For centuries, the nature and meaning of Celtic ,Asian & Islamic art has tended to be misunderstood in the West, being regarded as no more than decoration or ornament. Much of my work is a pictorial survey of the geometrical patterns found in Islamic art and they reveal how they express intrinsic cosmological laws affecting all Creation. Their primary function is to lead the mind from the literal and mundane world towards an underlying spiritual reality.

The recovery of an understanding of the symbolic meaning of these patterns and, furthermore, of the practical skill to embody them in art, craft and architecture, enables us to see the beauty of the eternal that shines through the world of the transient. The principles of Islamic art do not only belong to Islam, but are universal principles that are the birthright of every human being.

 

 

Sem exposed

Last November I was invited to speak about my work  at the Metageum Conference in Malta. This little island in the southern med has some of the oldest standing stones in the world dating from around 3500 BC. This is a picture of me hanging out in the extraordinary temple vibe at Mnajdra.

This photo was taken at sunset in the Mnajdra temple.

The Spirograph produces mathematical curves of the variety technically hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves.

The Spirograph was invented by British engineer Denys Fisher who exhibited it in 1965 at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair.

A Spirograph consists of a set of plastic gears and other shapes such as rings, triangles, or straight bars. There are several sizes of gears and shapes, and all edges have teeth to engage any other piece. For instance, smaller gears fit inside the larger rings, but also can engage the outside of the rings in such a fashion that they rotate around the inside or along the outside edge of the rings.

Denys Fisher (b. May 11th 1918, Leeds, England, d. September 17th, 2002, England)

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geometry is beautiful, truthful and good.

“when I re-discovered that I could use geometry at the age of 28, I felt that I’d come home. It’s the feeling of child-like play and discovery that complements the nature of mathematics and harmony”

I grew up in the architecturally beautiful cities of Bath and Brighton. In 1975, I was given a geometry game called 'Spirograph'. This game introduces kids to the process of pattern making and ornament. To some, the game is a remarkable tool for creating pretty patterns whilst at play and is soon discarded as the toy is outgrown. To others and to me, Spirograph is an introduction to geometry. The game gives some incite into atomic structure and  planetary orbit—interplanetary craft.

However during my education the higher levels of structural coincidence were left to drift dormant around my imagination for more than 15 years. I never lost that sense of wonderment.

In 1995, in my early 30's, I gained a place to study Architecture at the University of Brighton and soon re-discovered the art of Geometry....quite literally 'Earth Measure'. Investigating the 'sacredness' of pure structure as such, I followed my instincts and pursued my passion for building beautiful integral patterns combining the intuitive genius of the East with the practical genius of the West.