Sophie Ashdown

Since the Interim show I have wanted to make larger versions of some of the smaller A5 size pieces that were included in my “Pattern of Patterns”:

I chose two of the A5 pieces to make into larger versions.

Here is one of the original A5 pieces:

I chose this because I like the shape, the delicacy of the lines, and the optical effect that draws you to the centre of the image.

Here is the larger version in size 40cm x 40cm:

(Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the piece before I framed it for a show, but will get a better shot afterwards!)

You can see in the larger version that I used many more lines to make the total effect more intricate. To fit more lines in, I couldn’t start them all at the same point at the centre, so had to start some further out, which ended up creating an interesting pattern of their own around the centre. Since I liked the effect, I decided to only add the circles and dots to the lines at the outer edges.

Admittedly at one point I thought I had ruined the whole thing by not making the centre starting points to be even and therefore creating a more aligned pattern, but ultimately I like the outcome so persevered with the approach.

I do have ideas about how I would do it differently if I started a new version of this piece, and I think it could be better, but this is good enough for the show.

The other piece I decided to upscale was this space-age one (here in A5):

I really love how this one turned out. It still has the geometric elements of a Constructivist piece, but perhaps one more suited to Star Wars! I called this piece “Warp Speed” since it makes me think of zooming ahead on the Millennium Falcon.

I think though that I will update it after the constructivists show to make the circular lines thicker as they don’t stand out as well when viewing it in the photo.

At first glance, the new pieces above look quite different. One is intricate with fine lines, and the other is bold with thicker lines. However they both have an overall circular shape, with a pattern that draws your eye to the centre.

I intend to use them at the upcoming New Constructivists show.

Now to decide which ones to do next…