District Lines (2025) builds upon previous work of graphemic expression, the treatment of language as raw matter, to disrupt audience perception of written material. Highlighting the fallibility of both written documentation and its readers over time. A cornerstone of Romance’s practice is the manipulation of essential contextual information to leave the viewer in a state of unknowing which they must resolve through close study. Utilizing digital found materials of historical maps from the Library Of Congress, Google satellite imagery from 1986-2021, and the metro lines of the Washington D.C; District Lines captures a moving, digital impression of the city that at times appears more like circuit board. As metro lines appear, disappear, and reappear throughout the piece: city streets and structures reveal themselves only in glimpses. Repeated glitch manipulations, and purposeful interference by the artist, creates a whirlwind of pixels that move wildly about the screen, crunching over one-another for dominance within the frame in a pixelated palimpsest.
