Australia in Oak, Copper, and Quartz

This article describes a map I made based on a trip to Western Australia I took with my wife in 2014. The map is sculptural, constructed using a combination of wood, metal, and semi-precious gemstones. For the base of the map, I used a 44.5 × 40.5 in (113 × 103 cm) piece of quarter-sawn white oak veneer plywood. Guided by a 1-inch (2.54 cm) grid system, I drilled 773 holes of four different diameters to show the land area and general shape of the continent. I chose two different gauges of copper wire to represent driving and train routes. Amethyst stones represent alkaline saline lakes that Holly—an extremophile microbiologist—sampled for resident microbiota. For the one acidic saline lake she sampled (pH 3.5), I used rose quartz instead of amethyst. I highlighted the stromatolites we observed at Shark Bay (Western Australia) with a green diopside mineral. Finally, anywhere we stayed of note is represented with one (or more) red map pins. The final product is 44.5 × 40.5 in (113 × 103 cm) at a scale of 1:4,118,400 (1 in = 65 mi; 1 cm = 41.2 km).