Paradoxa

This wall collage using the basic DIY material Fablon, continues my investigation into the relationship between illusionistic space, decorative motifs and architectural space. Drawn and printed using SketchUp and AutoCAD, the piece was then hand cut and collaged directly onto the wall. Two strands run through this work; my fascination with the 16th century artist Hans Vredeman de Vries. Secondly, my interest in perception and decorative art. Reading Gombrich and Gregory, I began to think much more seriously about this link. Gombrich for example, discusses at great length the fact that for a design to be recognised by our brain as a pattern, it has to sit correctly between two extremes; repetition which is too simple and regular, ceases to be noticed by the brain. Repetition which is too complex, also ceases to be recognised as having any understandable structure. In this work, Islamic design is also a reference point. Not only because of the link between pattern recognition, but also for the spiritual and symbolic reference, something which is particularly important in my work. The visual paradox of a strong surface ‘grain’ supplied by the Fablon, contradicted by an image of very complex three dimensionality was something which I had begun to exploit in my series of works on paper ‘After Josef Albers’.