I’ve had several requests for hard copies of Symmetry in Nature but unfortunately they’re sold out. So here’s a decent quality free download: it’s the pdf file of the whole book:
If anyone would like to purchase the high quality pdf of the book (R75) please contact me.
One of the most frustrating things about curating right through the Arts Festival is that I get a lot of inspiration but there’s no time to act on it until quite a bit later. This year was no exception. Many people have commented that a lot of my pictures resemble fractals – and I agree with them because they do – but I’ve never set out to make a fractal picture before. I’ve chosen the pattern that’s found in trees, flowers, seeds and a whole host of other natural phenomena – a Fibonacci spiral of ever smaller images in a theoretically endless sequence. The key thing is that each image in the spiral is the exact replica of the same image at regularly diminishing or increasing scales.
Fractal Dryad
Producing an aesthetically pleasing picture that more or less follows these ideas has been difficult. The problem is chosing an image that shows the spiralling nature in a dynamic way. The sequence I’ve made starts at the large image to the bottom of the picture and then rotates up to the top left, across to the top right and on down in a clockwise direction until it spirals out of sight. The base picture is from my Dryad series: where a mirrored image of a skeletal tree is projected on to Natalie’s back as she stands in front of a screen.
Here’s a screenshot from Wikipedia showing the mathematics that the spiral sequence is based on.
Fibonacci Spiral
I added further copies of the whole picture into the cut-outs of her head so that she appears to be looking out of her own shadowed outline.
Now I’ve finished working this out of my system it will be time for some more photography. I’m off to Sweden in a couple of weeks time where I’m sure to find some more inspiration from nature.
One of the things I wanted in the exhibition was a small set of pictures that show off my love of harmony and beauty. The dryad series covers a whole wall and they’re quite dark. So I set about shooting some much lighter pictures with clean lines that can be simply mirrored. I’ve combined them into one mosaic image here but in the exhibition they are four separate pictures.
Webs Mosaic
Three of these pictures are of spiders webs. The water droplets from the early morning mist pick out the graceful shapes of the webs in the cosmos and aloes. I think the lines give nice tension and balance: the backgrounds are very pale because of the mist. I took the pictures one late summer morning at Tsitsa Falls backpackers. The fourth picture is of hornbeam trees in the beautiful forest below Tureborg in Uddevalla, Sweden. In this picture the curved shapes of the tree trunks are balanced by the branches and the shape of the valley sides. It complements the other three pictures nicely even though the subject is different.
A couple of weeks ago I posted this picture on Facebook. It’s one of my favourite trees catching the warm sunshine: full of twisty arching shapes. At the time my good friend Harry Owen said he could see an artwork coming on …. he was right.
Äsperöd Gnarly
I’ve managed to find some time to work with it and I’m pretty happy with these two images. They’re full of mirroring and overlay and to me they’re fantasy works. This first one overlays an image of the forest floor to give a warm rich texture.
Äsperöd Mushroom Fantasy
The second one rotates the trees and the cross processing of the overlaid images gives some amazing blue and red tints. There’s a completely different feel to it.
Äsperöd Fantasy
This is still a work in progress and hopefully I’ll be putting up more pictures as my ideas develop.
The cost of framed and print only copies are given below. All images are available in digital format at R250/image.
Trees (costs do not include postage and packaging)
Äsperöd Gnarly (900 x 754) R2200 framed (sold); R1350 print
Äsperöd Gnarly
Äsperöd Gnarly Creature (900 x 800) R2300 framed; R1350 print
Äsperöd Gnarly Creature
Aurajoki Runic (643 x 900) R1900 framed (sold); R1150 print
Aurajoki Runic
Baobab Temple (900 x 378) R1550 framed; R1150 print
Baobab Temple
Vresbok Archway (1000 x 759) R2300 framed; R1350 print
Vresbok Archway
Vresbok Avenue (900 x 753) R2200 framed; R1350 print
Vresbok Avenue
Designs (costs do not include postage and packaging)
Alice in Wonderland (1000 x 1182) R3000 framed; R1550 print
Alice in Wonderland
Blue Arabesque (900 x 933) R2450 framed; R1400 print
Blue Arabesque
Blue Portal (900 x 1166) R2800 framed; R1500 print
Blue Portal
Endless Filigree (1100 x 1200) R2650 framed; R1600 print
Endless Filigree
Endless Natalie (850 x 875) R2300 framed; R1350 print
Endless Natalie
Vresbok Spiders (1050 x 1200) R3250 framed; R1600 print
Vresbok Spiders
Eyes (costs do not include postage and packaging)
Ancient Eyes (900 x 428) R1700 framed; R1200 print
Ancient Eyes
Natalie Feral (950 x 698) R2150 framed; R1300 print
Natalie Feral
Natalie Metallica (1200 x 800) R2450 framed; R1300 print
Natalie Metallica
Skies, Fjords (costs do not include postage and packaging)
Aloe Skyscape (800 x 680) R2000 framed (sold); R1250 print
Aloe Skyscape
Lindesnäs Fjordscape (900 x 404) R1650 framed (sold); R1200 print
Lindesnäs Fjordscape
Okapuka Sunset (1000 x 997) R2750 framed; R1550 print
Okapuka Sunset
Stendörren Dreamscape (1350 x 529) R2200 x R1350
Stendörren Dreamscape
Contact me if you want to place an order.
The pictures are framed, the labeling’s done, digital images uploaded for distribution, picture hooks, string and the rest of the exhibition paraphernalia are all just about ready to go. So I’m almost there!
I’ll be hanging the pictures on Tuesday 28th, with Harry Owen’s assistance, and the finishing touches should be done on Wednesday. Thursday 30th we open at the Carinus Annex. See you there!
