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.
"Jaali Fellow 3" is part of my Jaalihedra™ sculpture series.
Jaalihedra™ = jaali (Hindu for "net", used as a name for carved
sandstone screens found in NW India) + polyhedra. At Bridges 2022
I described how to apply Islamic geometric patterns (IGP) to polar
zonohedra (PZ). The rhombic dodecahedron (RD) is a 4-fold PZ with
pitch angle of arctan(1/sqrt(2)) or ~35.26 degrees. Its faces are
rhombi with angles of ~70.53 degrees. This 10-fold IGP repeats on
rhombi with angles of 72 degrees. Thus by adjusting the IGP by
~1.47 degrees, ! can apply it to the faces of the PZ without
noticeable distortion. The RD lends itself naturally to a 3-color
scheme for its 12 faces, and the central rosettes are cycled by
one color for a pleasing contrast.