The Structure of Nature

As a scientist, my eyes and mind have been trained to respond to patterns in the natural world. These patterns result from the response of complex systems to physical laws, whose ultimate expression is cast in mathematical form. Mathematical forms — be they equations or geometrical constructs — evoke a sense of beauty, much like a poem or symphony. But the world of nature, while shaped by physical laws, is inherently chaotic. My goal in this series of images is to use the worlds of mathematical perfection and beauty to show the equally profound beauty of the natural world. These images make use of tile patterns generated by mathematical algorithms overlaid on complex natural systems operating in the real world. These systems, biological, chemical and physical, adjust to efficiently grow using the space they have available. In other images, fractal patterns are used to call attention to the structure of the naturally formed patterns. What I hope to evoke is a new, constructed world in which disordered nature is re-imagined through the eyes of mathematical order and perfection — creating in the mind?s eye a new beauty that is neither order nor chaos.