Anicét Mikolai Heller

Statement

I have always seen math in everything. In music, languages, and nature, it has inevitably made its way into my artwork. My latest works, which I call 'geoscapes', are my oil on canvas interpretations of computer generated graphs of three-dimensional functions. In our universe, there are universal constants that define how our universe behaves, and ultimately, our reality. These constants are so finely balanced that even the slightest deviation from their set values would yield a universe devoid of life. When I am formulating my subject, I think of each configuration as a universe of it's own that I must fine-tune in the same way. The four universal constants for each universe I create are: the function, its frame limits, the resolution of calculation, and the imposed colors or patterns. After these are set, I must navigate the viewing angle, and in essence 'search for life' that will be reborn and have new life on canvas. The two works presented here are both asymptotic trigonometric functions. I have found functions of this type to be some of the most fertile. The way the slopes extend into infinity gives the subject a sense of liberation, as if they had been longing to break free from the confines of their mathematical world since the dawn of existence.

Artworks

Seen from below, the central saddle curve armors the core of this noble warrior, as his asymptotic aura radiates the type of charisma that can be felt for miles.

This playful character is seen from a top down view. Since the frame limit for the y-axis is set to 3π, one can see a total of one and a half cycles of the cosecant function- one full cycle in the center, and two quarter cycles on each side.