“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more”
― Lord Byron
Everywhere we look, shapes and patterns surround and influence us. Our actions can be a pattern, time is a pattern, the seasons are a pattern, and even our thinking process is a pattern through which we organise our world.
An ordered structure manifests into patterns and it gives us insight on the connection between the elements of a certain system.
As a nature observer, my brain collects a lot of visual information that afterwards, displays into my art work. A kaleidoscope of mesmerising colours – the magical feathers of birds, trees in autumn, fluffy clouds, enchanting rainbows, the drama of the heavy rain with lightning, bees at work, mushrooms that "communicate" through the mycelium, the symmetry of the flowers, cones and butterfly wings, the algorithmic nature of the sea shells, the craftsmanship of the spider webs and so on.
Last week I had a little holiday in Lyme Regis and as a curious explorer, I took my camera and my thirst of discovery on long walks at the beach. With Mary Anning in mind (the famous English fossil collector and palaeontologist who found impressive discoveries on the Jurassic coast in the 19th century), I enrolled on my quest to find some fossils and rocks. I marvelled at the beauty of the big rock hills, the cracks, shapes and all kind of colour stones. I had questions on my mind of how this perfect arrangement exists? Who and what stands behind of all this mastery in nature? So many theories, but not many facts to support them…an endless debate.
Finding fossils on the beach(with their spiral pattern) made me realise that the spirals are a common theme in my artwork, drawing eyes as spirals, labyrinth as a spiral, heart as a spiral and so on. This is a symbol that comes to me in my dreams and visions and I use it very often, unconsciously. And this is where I had an “aha” moment. The thought process led me to plan creating a small sculpture that will represent a hypnotic dream figure with fossil eyes (made of clay) as a part of my "labyrinth". Bellow, you can see a quick sketch that I've made:
Also, on my little walk I made detailed observations of the waves and their rhythm influenced by the wind, photographing the shapes left on the shore, as a documentation of the images I was being part of. It’s important to mention that our ears sense patterns as well and we have music as a proof that affects our emotions in so many ways. The sound of the waves can make us calmer or it can awaken difficult feelings inside of us.
By studying patterns we learn how to understand and appreciate the world around, the place we spend our lives in. At the same time, engaging with Nature, we develop a deeper connection with our spiritual self.
I tend to find similarities between the patterns of nature and patterns of the human body, for example a walnut looks like the brain, or a tree looks like the nervous structure of the lungs or a tomato cut in half looks like our heart.
This is where art intervenes to soothe my struggle to put in order an infinite variety of patterns in nature. I always try to find closure with all the elements of nature; I feel that it brings me closer to my spirit, which is so important in a creative process.
Furthermore, patterns and shape don’t stand-alone. They are part of a complex web of interrelationships. Every action, object or person produces an effect on something else. We live in an ecosystem in which we’re all dependent on each other. The sea is home for many fish and plants; the water from the sea evaporates creating the rain which is so important for the vegetation and life on Earth and so on.
This statement bring me again to the conclusion that -
EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.
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