Organized Illumination

As an artist and painter I have enjoyed portraying the world as I see it. I do not see a world of things or objects isolated from each other. I see patterns of connection. I like to take a metaphor and develop a series from it; to see how many ways I can present the metaphor. One series I did was based on fractals. You are probably familiar with some representations of fractals. This is not exactly what I painted. It was the fractal patterns I see everywhere in nature. And I believe this is one of the reasons we enjoy being in nature. Think of the difference between being in an old growth forest and a high-tech office where all the lines are straight and clean. One is full of fractals. The other isn’t.

Think of Jackson Pollock and Mondrian. Pollack’s paintings have what scientists studying him called “fractal expressionism”. Mondrian is beautiful too, but, compared to Pollock, his patterns seem artificial, geometric patterns far removed from nature.

Fractals are patterns that recur on finer and finer scales, building shapes of complexity. So I have found nature to be a wonderful place to study fractals and the painting I show here along with others in my Fractal Series reflect what I have found.

Another big influence on me has been ancient Chinese thought. Specifically, the thought that comes from a very old sacred text called the Neijing from which all traditional Chinese medicine is derived. I’m also fond of Taoist teachings. The Chinese didn’t see a world of things either. They saw patterns of change and movement. In fact, for them, the world could best be described as breath. And they saw this movement and pattern of breath at every scale – from the biosphere to the cosmos. It was all breath, the movement of ying and yang. For them, this expansion and contraction make up the nature of everything we see and experience. And when this movement was in harmonious relationship, they called it “organized illumination”.

So I hope you enjoy this painting and others in my Fractal Series. And next time you are in nature take some time to appreciate the beauty of fractals surrounding you. You’ll see them everywhere!

~ Roshi Robert Joshin Althouse