While the kaleidoscope is an age-old technology, Gaspar Battha created an elaborate, futuristic sculpture that combines elements of this traditional construction with new media. Titled “Patterns of Harmony,” the sculpture’s multi-faceted surface fractures projections of repeating, electric blue cubes into moving, psychedelic visuals.
Battha created this piece as an exploration of geometry: its importance to art and design principles as well as to natural processes. In his artist statement, he posed the following questions: “Why is a cube constructed as it is and why do we find the same shapes and geometrical structures on the largest as well as on the smallest scales of the cosmos? Is geometry only an illusion of our senses or is it an essential building block of the universe?”
Based in quantum physics research, “Patterns of Harmony” posits that as complex as the universe seems, its foundational building blocks are simple shapes that govern a variety of natural phenomena. Battha articulates this thought with this entrancing, cosmic new piece.
Malaysian artist Umibaizurah Mahir's meticulously crafted ceramics are almost exclusively in the form of stylized, comical creatures, like three dimensional hand-made cartoons. The complex psychology of her collectible "toys for adults” places them at the intersection of man, society and nature, where nothing is what it seems. Like Collodi's "Pinocchio", these naughty objects are often on the run, trying to escape on hand-painted ceramic wheels and wings, climbing their pedestals or breaking out of their frames.
Geng Xue’s ceramic sculptures, with their traditional coloring and textures, appear as beings evolving and emerging from our shelves. She’s used these creations in multimedia exhibition and even filmmaking, animating them into mythology-inspired narratives. As she creates representations of humanity, Xue seems to be reflecting on our own fragility.