Anna Chupa, Michael A Chupa

Statement

Birch CA is free motion-quilted from a photograph and a 2D rendering of a 1D Second-order Cellular Automata (CA). The black markings which form triangles and diamonds in the birch bark are branch scars. We observed that CA renderings exhibited similar repeating diamond shapes at various spatial scales. Those shapes coalesce into vertical lines that evoke wood grain. As in previous Bridges work, “The intent is to evoke, in the viewer’s mind, the relationship between simple code-based automata and complex biological systems that share coded structures via their genetic inheritance.” (2019) Darker tones are masked to allow CA renderings to pierce the photographic image.

Artworks

Birch CA is free motion-quilted on a long arm quilting machine using metallic thread. The fabric was digitally printed on cotton. The birch and CA layers were composited and merged together based on common features of biomorphic and mechanistic form.