Numbers by painting

I’m beginning a series of paintings of numbers using Pythagorean and Renaissance alchemical ideas about how numbers represent divine order. I have seven boxes that I have stretched canvas onto, now I’ll lay on plenty of Gesso to prepare them. Some of the pieces are going to be quite three dimensional, so I want to be sure to create a really solid ground for the paint and medium to hold onto.

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I like the way these panels will push out from the wall, requiring the viewer’s interaction. I can use the sides of the pieces as much as the front if I choose to, inducing much neck twisting and investigation.  

To the Pythagoreans, some numbers are representatives of the fingerprints of G-d on the universe, like Phi, Pi and the units. Pythagorean interpretations of these numbers explain the divine order of the cosmos.

About pearce

Michael Pearce is an artist, writer, and professor of art. He is the author of "Art in the Age of Emergence."
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