Allan Ludwig and Professor Peter Everett, Studio Arts
This is final report of my investigations into Islamic pattern, and Geometrical systems of creating art. In the summer of 2004 I traveled to Spain for a hands on learning experience and to see Islamic Pattern for myself. Locations of interest that i visited were the Alhambra in Granada, Alcazar Palace in Sevilla, Mezquita in Cordoba and Alcaza in Malaga. These location had an immense amount of Islamic Pattern to document, I primarily took photographs because my attempts to extract rubbings usually would get me warnings from security. On this trip I learned to Construct a five fold islamic pattern by taking a square and then dividing that square into golden sections, when lines are drawn out and the square is repeated it becomes a complex islamic pattern. During my trip to Spain and stay in Madrid at the Universidad de Alcala i made two oil paintings that incorporated this complex pattern. Upon returning to BYU i did not feel satisfied with the end results of those two paintings, they had indeed accomplished what i had initially set out to do, but they still did not seem right. I realized that even though they both incorporated a complex islamic pattern that I hand drew, they lacked an overall complexity that I desired. Then I realized what it was that drew me to be interested in Islamic Pattern in the first place and it was a complexity of lines. So I set out to develop my own process to create systems of complex lines from what i learned from Islamic Pattern, I did this by utilizing a computer application that uses mathematics to draw vector based graphics, I would then draw complex networks of lines print them out and hand paint them using a geometrical system of organization based off the Golden Section. Using this process I made eighteen oil paintings on canvas approximate size of 3.5 feet by 4.5 feet during the fall of 2004. These paintings presented disjointed narratives that stemmed from ideas/ perceptions of the future and technology. I presented this body of work during the first two weeks of december 2004 in the B.F. Larsen Gallery, in the Harris Fine Arts Center. Three Paintings from this series would be chosen by two jurors for the 2005 annual Utah Arts Council’s Painting and Sculpture show at Weber state. One of which would win the 2005 Jurors Award. The Jurors Award was the top Award, six equal ones were given out, I was the only winner without an MFA. I would go on to sell eight of these paintings for a total of 2,800 dollars. This money I put towards documenting my work with slides, applying to graduate schools and buying more art supplies. This body of work was my portfolio for applying to graduate schools, of which i was excepted into many top rated schools in my field, Pratt institute in New York City, Cranbrook Art Academy in Michigan, Ohio state, and Claremont Graduate University in CA. I choose to attend Claremont Graduate University starting in Fall 2005 where they offered me their highest Fellowship.