Phil Webster
I’ve had a life long love affair with geometry, and my sweet spot is taking ancient geometric traditions – particularly, in recent years, Islamic geometric patterns – and combining them with modern mathematical concepts like fractals and polyhedra to create unique, modern art and décor pieces for the modern home. I love making art that captures ancient traditions with a modern twist, and that brings order, beauty, and peace into peoples’ private spaces.
This dodecahedron features an Islamic geometric pattern custom
designed to represent my years of participation at Bridges. I
placed 7 points of a large star in each corner of each face,
yielding 21-pointed stars at each of the 20 vertices. Given their
5-fold rotational symmetry, it was natural to place a 20-pointed
star in the center of each face. Combined, the large stars thus
represent (20)12 and 20(21). A chance arose to place an extra ten
7-pointed stars around each central star. The angles misalign by
only a few degrees. Discrepancies were made imperceptible by
carefully hand adjusting the pattern. Each face has two layers: a
flat wood face and laser cut interlaced bands of mat board, all
painted, assembled, and varnished by hand.