Fractals are geometrical entities characterised by basic patterns that are repeated at ever decreasing sizes. They are relevant to any system involving self-similarity repeated on diminished scales (such as a fern's structure).
Stephen Wolfram (the creator of Mathematica) in his book “A New Kind of Science” described how, with the use of a computer, complex patterns could be created by repeating a simple pattern 110 times (Rule 110). Given that a computer could generate a complex pattern, I asked myself, “Could it be possible to generate a complex painting using the same principle” - e.g. – beginning with a simple colour and pattern and generating complexity.
I began by placing colours on a sheet of steel and glass and then by transferring them onto sheets of Perspex against glass. The result was not immediately evident, but after producing about twenty of these plates, some common elements emerged. These were branch like filaments – a curious and unexpected result produced from what was nothing more than a brush mark. The task then was to transpose these fractal brush marks and create meaningful images using them as a foundation.
Once I had recognised fractals, I began to see them everywhere, sometimes in most unexpected places. It became apparent that many observers from different ages also noted the existence of these branch like forms. They appear in Chinese art. Leonardo da Vinci had recorded them in Mountain forms and river streams. Medical text books also abounded with fractal networks in illustrations of blood vessels and brain patterns. Nature revealed fractal patterns in stands of trees in a forest, cloud formations, oceans and virtually whatever one cared to examine. From this endless source of inspiration, the fractal paintings were born, with the technique being perfected over hundreds of small experiemental panels using oil paints in a variety of mediums.