K_ Van
Looking at the art presented at the Bridges Organization on
Mathematical Art I am encouraged and pleased to find that
mathematicians and artists have taken a moment to share and celebrate
their progress. It is like climbing a mountain and this is a moment
when we turn around and look back at the astounding view that unfolds
before your eyes.
My own work deals with painting two dimensional polygon meshes using
colour contrasts. Starting from my sketch book I take models that I
have drawn, rebuild them in 3D programs and break them down into low
polygon meshes. I then transfer the model onto canvas, going from high
tech to needle and embroidery thread tracing each vector from its
starting point to its ending point. Once the threads are in place I
start painting the planes. This process may take months of carefully
adjusting the colours of the paints to achieve various warm and cold
colour contrasts.
![sculpture of animals with two children [side view]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.gallery.bridgesmathart.org/files/bridges2013/niceprogram/k_van_img_1636_1.jpg)
This art work belongs to a triptych entitled: sculpture of animals with two children. I had started on this work in the late summer of 2011, a complete breakthrough in idea and colour use. Previously I had been busy for 5 years on 50 abstract paintings, experimenting with 3D work, computer animations, modelling and CNC techniques. After talks with Sofia Kapnissi (artist and art consultant) we concluded that I should merge them together. The bulky images of the computer models on the computer monitor screen seemed so fascinating. Taking the works out of the computer and physically working and shaping them on a painter’s canvas makes a real impact. This is because I can use different colour contrast models. The green paints for instance are not mixed with black or white to give contrasts by tones, but rather with yellows and blues moving from warm to cold on the colour circle; this, having as starting point J.Itten’s fundamental studies on colour.