Leah Dixon: TEMPLE: Time Tapestry

Artist(s):

• Leah Dixon

Title:

TEMPLE: Time Tapestry

Exhibition:

• SIGGRAPH 2006: Intersections
• More artworks from SIGGRAPH 2006:  

Medium:

Large-format digital inkjet

Size:

44" x 26"

Category:

• 2D & Wall-Hung

Artist Statement:

As human beings in the 21st century, we all have roots both in bio­logical (planetary) nature and technological {human-created) nature; both spheres shape and affect our lives, individually and collectively. Works like this, which integrate biology and technology, are a corner­stone of my creative work.

The images in TEMPLE were derived from pictures of plant life, particularly of flowers. This infuses the compositions with a fertile, organic quality and a sense of structural cohesion. The floral images were layered upon themselves using simple mathematical repetitions within a grid to impose a secondary order and to create a unified visual space.

Through the natural geometry of plants, combined with the math­ematical geometry of the layout and the even spacing of connected elements, it feels whole, as if it contains infinite possibilities but not chaos. The images are simultaneously symbolic and evocative. While they are highly subject to individual interpretation, they ultimately point to a pure dimension of existence which integrates many of our perceived dualities, and so gives a window into the infinite possibili­ties that life holds for all of us.

Technical Information:

The original long-form video, TEMPLE, was created using original digital photographs that were animated and subsequently (for the purposes of this print and others like it) “de-animated”, or turned into a series of still frames side by side, using Photoshop and After Effects. A simple one-line algorithm using After Effects expres­sions determines some of the essential animation techniques that give TEMPLE and TEMPLE: Time Tapestry their unique visual stamp.