Elizabeth Whiteley

Statement

I have been studying the progression of images and objects from 2-D drawings to 3-D bas-relief sculptures and then to 2-D photographs. I use Jay Hambidge’s theory of Dynamic Symmetry as a design methodology. It produces harmonically pleasing subdivisions of square root rectangles. For those rectangles the ratios of width to height are equal to the square root of an integer. A 2-D line diagram derived from the Dynamic Symmetry theory can be expanded to 3-D as a bas-relief sculpture which can then be projected onto a 2-D plane using photography. By varying the location of the lighting and the camera lens relative to the bas-relief sculpture, numerous 2-D projections are possible.

Artworks

The creative process for this artwork was similar to that for Expansion 4 except that I partitioned the square root 2 rectangle by cutting two diagonal lines from two vertices to their opposite vertices and then cutting lines across the center of the rectangle vertically and horizontally. I manually curved the eight segments to create a bas-relief.

I explored the progression of a 2-D image to a 3-D object and then to a different 2-D image. I drew a line diagram following the theory of Dynamic Symmetry applied to a square root 2 rectangle on heavyweight paper. I partitioned the rectangle by cutting two diagonal lines from the two top vertices to the center of the opposite side of the rectangle. I manually curved the three segments to create a bas-relief. I photographed the bas-relief with mono-directional lighting. For post-processing, I used Photoshop 2022 software. The dramatic movement sensed in the image reveals how the original diagram progressed from 2-D to 3-D and then was projected as a 2-D image.