“building complex patterns and systems of change through relatively small interactions”
—adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy
The disruption and uncertainty of the past year (pandemic, politics, the ongoing fight for justice) has me thinking about patterns.
Each of the drawings in the STARS series starts with the same pencil-drawn pattern: a complex star that is part of the “Breath of the Compassionate” motif from Islamic art. The central 8-pointed star also shows up in other folk traditions, including my own Mennonite quilt-making heritage. The star references the compass rose and the use of the sky to chart direction. There’s a sense of expansion and contraction as the same geometric figures appear at different scales — infinite manifestations of the same pattern.
From there, each drawing is unique, reinterpreting or disrupting the pattern in three ways: FORMATION relies on uniformity and symmetry. VARIATION introduces modulation and shifting. IDEATION is the invention of new forms.
The STARS represent ideas about the human experience: the building blocks we share and the way each person manifests differently. The need to build systems with space for complexity and diversity. The importance of connection and relationship.
