Geominatrix

2013

Chicago Ideas Week: Artist in Residence Proposal
400 N. Michigan Ave, Pioneer Plaza

Geometric forms imply both the known and the speculative. They can be called abstract when considered in relationship to the figurative or representational but to mathematicians they are nothing short of perfection and precision. In particular, Platonic forms are three-dimensional maps or formulas, able to answer questions that exceed their own literal form.

These foundational forms have an uncanny ability to act as a chameleon of content, absorbing and reflect back the character of their environment. In Geominatrix, the sculptures reference and reflect the rectilinear logic of the surrounding city but on a scale more aligned with that of the body instead of the monumental. The works have a geometric framework but then melt and mutate in their materiality. A chroma saturated skin flows over the volumes to create a juicy surface that embeds into and supports the form. There’s an appearance of a liquefied sculpture, malleable and in transition. Taught and droopy lines loosely connect the forms, criss-crossing and doubling back, resembling an idiosyncratic spider’s journey.

We have become accustomed to our public spaces as vehicle for banal representational or sterile abstract art. They often offer passersby an un-nuanced reflection of society. The use of geometric solids melting and dissolving in this piece suggests the feminizing of traditional architectural languages while embodying a more dynamic and textured feminist sci-fi utopic attitude. Geometry is also often the constant framework upon which cultures can apply their temporal signature through visual languages such as architecture, sculpture and the decorative arts.