Aishwariya Chandrasekar

Maryland, USA

The inspiration for my work comes from doodles, building on traditional art forms, the paper that I have in front of me, where I am, or the thoughts floating through my mind. As an aspiring academic in the social sciences, I find that the best way to express both the ideas and feelings that come from particular concepts is through a completely different medium. This form of expression has allowed me to make ties between society, philosophy, psychology, math, science, and art, and constantly reminds me that despite disciplinary differences, they are all deeply intertwined. My artwork explores ideas of infinity, fractals, scales, symmetry, intersections, composition, and emergences.

Ripples
Ripples
30 x 22 cm
Pen on Paper
2015

This is one of the first drawings I made with the idea of overlapping shapes and lines to see what would happen. I started off by drawing a series of circles overlapping, like ripples in water. As I drew these lines, I started to notice patterns of movement emerging in the areas where the circles overlapped, and continued to expand those circles to see other forms of intersection. This piece also demonstrates Moiré patterns, in the moments where the circles intersect, creating a unifying vertical thread throughout the piece. This piece also explores simple shapes, symmetry, and fractal patterns.

Emergences
Emergences
16 x 12 cm
Pen on paper
2018

I've explored the intersections of various shapes and lines, along with their symmetries, throughout my artwork, but I wanted to zoom in on the interesting effects that came from overlapping them in this piece. This drawing is a small exploration focusing on the movement that emerges from overlapping circles, which become more concentrated and complex with the addition of triangular lines. The intersections between these overlaid shapes and juxtaposed lines create what reminds me of Moiré patterns, as it becomes possible to see additional layers of complexity and movement emerge from what would otherwise be flat images.