What does the Mapping Suprematism symbol mean?

You may have noticed the black cross with circles on the top of this website. It also features on each of my maps. What does it mean and how did it come to be?

Going back to before the name Mapping Suprematism had been dreamt up, I had produced my first map, Home is Where the River Runs. Soon after completion, it occurred to me that there was no indication that it was a map. This wasn’t a problem as the original intention of using a base map was to assist with balancing the shapes. However, as I had created the painting based on where I live, I thought it would make sense to embrace the abstract map concept. So I added a simple compass.

After I created my second map, Road to Angels, I realised (it should have been obvious) that a compass has no use if you cannot determine which direction points north. Again, not necessarily a problem but I thought it would be useful, if I ever rotated a map to fit better within the space, that people could tell which way pointed north.

I experimented with a few different designs before I settled on the one I am using now. Originally, I was going to add a small white circle on the north point. This evolved, through various shapes and locations, to adding a black circle on the bottom left. At this point, I began to identify the cross as the letter T and the small circle as an O. By combining two more circles together I created an abstract M, which now sits on the bottom right. Therefore, the combined symbol spells TOM (the name most people know me by) acting as a signature for each piece created.

Note that the first map, Home is Where the River Runs, maintains the original cross without circles. I decided not to add these to show the progression within the project.

As a bonus, the compass cross is a nice tribute to Kazimir Malevich’s 1923 ‘Black Cross’ oil painting.