Patrick M. Schröder
Infinity [interrupted] series
Tessellations can cover a plane with a pattern of flat shapes to infinity. There are only three shapes that can form regular tessellations: the equilateral triangle, square and the regular hexagon. The arrow cube is based on a hexagonal lattice. Any one of these three shapes can be duplicated infinitely to fill a plane or canvas. In mathematics tessellations can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of geometries.
"The infinite in mathematics is always unruly unless it is properly treated."
James Newman and Edward Kassner, Mathematics and the Imagination
“Our provocative ascription of free will to elementary particles is deliberate, since our theorem asserts that if experimenters have a certain freedom, then particles have exactly the same kind of freedom. Indeed, it is natural to suppose that this latter freedom is the ultimate explanation of our own.”
― John Horton Conway, The Strong Free Will Theorem
“There are considerable mysteries surrounding the strange values that Nature's actual particles have for their mass and charge. For example, there is the unexplained 'fine structure constant' ... governing the strength of electromagnetic interactions, ....”
― Roger Penrose, The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe
Painting the invisible -
A trans-disciplinary journey exploring science, mathematics and culture through art and painting
Over the last few years, I have been approaching concepts from mathematics and physics through my abstract paintings and drawings. I am particularly interested in topology, geometry and symmetry. It is an attempt to better understand these ideas and visually communicate concepts such as infinity, spacetime, complexity, multiple dimensions, quantum gravity, Riemann surfaces, knots, spin chains…
I am also fascinated by microbiology, in particular by the intricate structures of proteins, enzymes and other biocatalysts.
For the artist, there are some tricky questions to solve: Is it possible to represent multidimensional spaces through painting? Can the limited surface of a canvas contain and depict the different sizes of infinity? What shape does the universe have and how can this been visually represented?
I have approached these questions through abstract painting, circular forms and colourful compositions.
I am currently studying for a PhD degree on circular design at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA).
I originally trained in postmodern art practice at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) in New Zealand. I explored the relationships between culture, language, identity and politics.
2002-2004 Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (Bachelor Visual Arts)
As part of my Chinese language studies in 1998-1999 I studied calligraphy and landscape painting at the University of Sichuan in Chengdu, China.