Islamic Tile Studies

For the past few years I have been creating images which use mathematical patterns, the Penrose tiles and fractal patterns, as masks through which to view the natural world. The mathematical patterns represent the underlying laws that govern the structure of the physical world when it exists in an isolated state. The images seen through these masks show the resulting real world systems when the multiplicity of forces present in the environment exert their complex and sometimes conflicting effects on the structures imaged. As an extension of this investigation, I became very interested in Islamic tile patterns as a mathematical construct of the human mind. A recent trip to Spain has allowed me to photograph the tile patterns in the Alcazar, the Alhambra, and at La Mesquita. While I was prepared for the geometry of the tile patterns, I was also struck by the color patterns flowing through them, increasing their complexity. But beyond these patterns, the upper portion of the walls was covered with plaster work of even greater complexity which both complemented and contrasted with the tiles. I have begun to make images which attempt to come to terms with these man-made constructs and which exhibit the beauty, complexity and complementary of these incredible monuments to man's mind.