Statement

Catherine Rupan Mapp is a muralist and fiber artist based in Baltimore whose work spans a wide range of materials including acrylic, spray paint, natural dyes, and textiles. Her vibrant aesthetic draws on traditions of Mexican folk art, Caribbean color sensibilities, and the bold graphic forms of underground rave posters and street art. Mapp’s visual language merges iconography from her Mexican, Cuban, and Guyanese heritage with contemporary symbolism—layering color, hieroglyphics, and mythological forms across canvases, public walls, and woven surfaces.

Rooted in ancestral memory and personal ritual, her work explores healing, identity, and collective joy. Whether painting murals or crafting fiber-based installations, Mapp uses color and movement to channel stories of resilience and transformation. Her practice is deeply influenced by growing up in subtropical Miami and is deeply intertwined with music—particularly the communal and trance-like experiences found on electronic dance floors. Movement becomes both metaphor and method: dancing through creative blocks, she finds herself mentally renewed, receiving spontaneous flashes of imagery and pattern while immersed in sound. These “divine downloads” often reappear in her paintings and weavings, echoing the spiritual dimensions of collective joy and ritual.

Her most recent body of work draws further inspiration from the process of sampling and remixing—borrowing not only from ancestral iconographies but also from the DJ’s craft of reframing old sounds in new contexts. Being inspired by the process of sampling and remixing goes beyond just music or borrowed cultural imagery—it is also a framework for reconciling the similarities and differences that come with growing up multicultural. As a first-generation American, Mapp uses her art to stay in touch with her roots while confronting the loss of identity that often accompanies American assimilation.

At the heart of her work is a desire to bridge past and present—connecting viewers to shared experiences through public art that is both personal and political. By activating public space, she invites participation, creating opportunities for connection, reflection, healing, and communal celebration.