Fine Arts
Exploring the Figure Through Fractals
Sophia Anthony
Awarded: KCF Walt Potter Award 2017-2018
Advisor: Victoria Star Varner
Open gallery
In this project I explored and integrated visual and mathematical ideas to produce two large-scale paintings of wrinkles on the human figure using fractal geometry. In the two paintings, I focused on the wrinkles of the hand, mapping out the four major creases on specific areas of my hand and then applying fractal iterations to get increasing more detailed and complex wrinkle patterns. Each painting has its own color system which seeks to reflect the mottled color and texture of skin and create depth beneath the linear fractal patterns. While the paintings reference wrinkles and the human figure, the severe cropping and analytical process create almost entirely abstract planes of linear networks. Conceptually, these paintings explore how wrinkles develop, following fractal patterns, through time and by experience. Imbued with ideas of age and maturity, the process of aging and creating wrinkles is strikingly universal, affecting all people.