Rachel A H Beckett

Statement

These designs are inspired by the 'kite' and 'dart' tiles devised by Sir Roger Penrose (2020 Nobel Prizewinner) and by British wildlife. Penrose tiles are based around the Golden Ratio and pentagonal symmetry and can be arranged in countless different non-repeating patterns. My designs have rotational symmetry, but most do not. I have sought to show how beauty arises when mathematical structures and angles are softened by the subtle variations of natural growth. The fronds of the plants illustrated in my watercolours link up as I manually assemble the tiles in my Adobe software, creating a more complex network arising from the tessellation. My work draws on a BA in History of Art, an MA in Illustration and a PGCE in Mathematics.

Artworks

This artwork is constructed of Penrose tiles - a kite and a dart - both designed in watercolour, then scanned in and individually assembled in Adobe Indesign before being transferred into Photoshop and saved as a digital file. British wildlife species are the basis for the watercolour design on each tile: cabbage white butterfly, heartsease pansy, elder, starfish, greenbottle, scarlet pimpernel and germander speedwell. There is one false colour variant of each tile, the naturalistic colours being on the tiles that are mainly red and light blue. The kite and dart can be assembled in countless different ways, further multiplied by the colour variants.

This artwork is constructed of Penrose tiles - a kite and a dart - painted in watercolour, then scanned in, assembled manually in Adobe Indesign, transferred into Photoshop and saved as a digital file. The tile designs are inspired by 17th-century Jacobean strapwork (itself reminiscent of the interlace popular in the early Middle Ages) and by natural forms, especially sea kelp. The straps and fronds join up to form a network with symmetries determined by the tessellation. There are three colour variants of each tile. This design has rotational symmetry but the kite and dart can be assembled in countless asymmetric ways, further multiplied by the colour variants.