In March 2021 my newly commissioned paintings were installed at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre in Cambridge.
“When I was asked to create the six large artworks for The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre I was very excited. I have always enjoyed patterns that reference science and mathematics in a very intuitive way. I immediately knew that I wanted to create work that referenced some of these patterns and structures whilst reflecting elements from the amazing building itself which was designed by Danish architect Erik Christian Sorensen.
For the first floor I wanted to use large square panels and create geometric mathematical designs in the three pieces. I also wanted to draw on some of the architectural features. The colours are warm and come from the brickwork and the wood and there is a large circular table. The unusual geometric structure which covers a circular hole in the floor is reflected in the first piece. The colours and shapes of the second piece reference the distinctive decorative brickwork in the facing wall and other parts of the building. Finally the last piece draws patterns from the other brickwork and warmer tones from the wood combined with the neutral greys.
For the second floor pieces I wanted to reference the work that the CCDC does. I have endeavoured to distil patterns and ideas in a way that reflects the processes without being an exact scientific design. They all have subtle light reflecting particles mixed into the paint as well as shapes that glow in the dark.
In the third piece I have drawn upon the patterns of chemical structures. The background incorporates shapes from some electron density maps created by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1945. This is a reference to all the famous female crystallographers including Olga Kennard who founded the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre in 1965.
The actual process of creating the work was very interesting. Six paintings all at once is overwhelming and daunting so I had to break everything down into separate steps. After initial research and experimentation it soon became clear that it was only whilst working of each step that the next action or idea was revealed to me. I had to simultaneously remain focussed whilst also allowing the process to intuitively develop. This feeling of being in the flow is in common with all creative endeavours in every field of work and also reflects life in general.
Although the pieces are quite structured, geometric and scientific in design they are very much created by hand. They are not perfect but there is no such thing as perfection and I hope that the human hand of the artist can be present in a scientific world of data.
I am pleased with the pieces I have made and how they look now that they are installed. I hope that everyone who uses the building enjoys looking at them and that they do justice to the work done there and to the building itself.”
