Embracing Wayward Nature: The Influence of Early Chinese Painting and Fractal Geometry on the Work of a Contemporary Artist

The author’s approach to painting is influenced by Chinese landscape painting and its philosophical principles as well as by recent developments in science and mathematics. In examining the notion of ‘pattern’ —particularly its special qualities in nature—he distinguishes two broad areas of pattern: convergent (formal, predictable) and divergent (natural, unpredictable). Turning to his own work, he shows how certain images grew out of the interaction between his intuitive insights and a reasoned attempt to embrace ‘wayward nature’.