2015 Bridges Conference

Liz Shreeve

Artists

Statement

I see no great divide between the sciences and the arts. I incorporated art into my previous career as a science educator and science informs my art practice. My work is driven by observation and obsessed with light and colour. It is about slowing the eye and seeing beauty in simple forms. I work in low relief using identical units, arranged in predetermined sequence, to catch and colour light. When working in three dimensions these simple sequences of number and direction generate objects reminiscent of organic forms. Like mutations in DNA, small changes in sequence lead to differences in structure. I aim to continue experimenting with paper and other materials using number and pattern to produce objects of beauty.

Artworks

Image for entry 'Whorl 3'

Whorl 3

39 x 39 x 39 cm

Torn and curled paper on paper

2013

Additional info

I work with surface pattern and number sequences and wanted to see what happens in 3D. My goal was a sphere and I first developed techniques with the platonic solids. Spherical coordinates provide a partition of the surface of a sphere. Unlike platonic solids, this coordinate grid is not uniform and facets become smaller near the poles and thus the size and proportion of the individual curled rectangles that make up the surface need to be carefully calculated, made and assembled. Once in 3D the surface pattern evokes a biological context. The structure is reminiscent of organisms such as macrophages. The changes required by the underlying skeleton alter surface structure to produce objects that mimic the growth patterns of organic forms.