Fibonacci: An exhibition of math and magic

You may not know it, but you have seen the patterns of the Fibonacci sequence hundreds of times. These patterns occur in an amazing variety of places; in art and nature, mathematics and in science. The Fibonacci sequence is an endless series of numbers where any number is the addition of the previous two numbers, starting with 0 and 1.

Sounds dull, but this series is a mathematical way of describing how lots of things grow. It is a blueprint for the growth of things like shells, cones, flowers, human DNA, through to spiral galaxies. The classic Fibonacci spiral has been accorded spiritual status by many cultures. Often it appears as both clockwise and counter-clockwise spirals on the same form.

The sequence was first described in the west by the Italian Fibonacci, but its origin is as far back as 200BC, and is found in Indian mathematics and Sanskrit poetry.

The commonness of these patterns borders on the magical. Without change there is no growth, without pattern, there is no order. The ‘dance’ between these elements is the idea that each artist considers.

In the upcoming exhibition which opens on February 25, four artists explore this blueprint for growth. Mandy Thomsett-Taylor forged a pictorial interior landscape in which anything (and everything) can be included, and that celebrates its own logic.

“This Fibonacci-focussed exhibition proposes ideas around design, pattern and logic which interest me,” says Mandy. “I grapple, both in life and in art-making, for balance and order, but tend to descend into ‘riotousness’ at the first opportunity.”

Bridget Mintoft has always been interested in the subject of perception. How is it we ‘see’ things? Why can two people who look at the same object or situation see different things? Why don’t other people ‘realise’ what we see plainly? We bring preconceptions, biases, fears, blind spots and many more when we take in information about the world. For this exhibition she has looked at those questions in relation to the Fibonacci number series.

Pauline Mann learnt of Fibonacci through the works of Rudolf Steiner, Goethe, John Wilkes, Euclid and Phidias, and Johannes Kepler, while teaching art at the Steiner school in Wellington.

“They opened for me the world of classical geometry and the primal beauty of the flow form water sculpture,” says Pauline.

Her work in glass over the last year has spiralled around these connections in an attempt to understand their deeper underpinnings.

Nicola Everett has always been interested in the patterns created by nature, whether it be clouds, tidal marks in the sand, grass blowing in the wind, or ripples on the water. She is looking for a type of order or essence.

”To me pattern contains the essence and beauty of an object, so Fibonacci is a translation into a mathematical language that explains and finds order and connection within nature’s patterns.”

n Dancing with Fibonacci, Mangawhai Artists Gallery, opening February 25, 6pm. See website for more details including future exhibitions and courses.

The ‘Fibonacci Four’ – Pauline Mann, Bridget Mintoft, Nicola Everett and Mandy Thomsett-Taylor – with a work ‘Coffee’ by Mandy. PHOTO/SUPPLIED