Stacy Speyer

Textiles Studio Manager
California College of the Arts
Oakland, California, USA

My creative passions shift between a hunger for knowledge and a constant drive to make. I am drawn to vibrant colors and a range of different mediums. I tend to begin a project with simple parts and combine them in a complex arrangement. My light airy structures use a minimal amount of material to express a woven plane in space or a regular geometric configuration on a sphere. I seek a balance of movement and stillness, between the expansion of infinity and the quiet emptiness of the void. Every piece exists as both a whole unit and a multiplicity of smaller elements interlaced in an emergent phenomena.

Compound of Two Truncated Tetrahedra
Compound of Two Truncated Tetrahedra
31 x 31 x 31 cm
laser cut steel, bent and bolted with red powder coating
2017

Just as two tetrahedra fit perfectly together, two truncated tetrahedra can combine to make one compound shape. The hexagon of one truncated tetrahedron perfectly frames the triangle of the other. The front and back edges of the polyhedra match up in a beautiful echoing of lines. The 4 pictures shown emphasize the dramatic change that occurs from different views points: 3-fold, 2-fold, 4-fold, and close-up.

Waves of Blue - Great Rhombicosidodecahedron
Waves of Blue - Great Rhombicosidodecahedron
19 x 19 x 19 cm
digitally printed on 100% cotton rag paper with tape and black marker
2017

The pattern flowing across this great rhombicosidodecahedron both smoothly joins the 3 polygon shapes and plays with their differences. The pattern motifs change nicely around the decagon, hexagon, and square. Although it is not a strict 5 color experiment, (because of the black, dark blue, and purple) the swirling 5 shades of blue create layers of symmetry in this 3D tessellation.

The net used to make this piece is one of a series that I've designed as part of a 3D coloring book.