Patterns Artist Karen Hochman Brown | Asparagus And Garbanzo

The title says it all. I have a small series of artworks that are produce based. I am an avid shopper at the local farmers market. The beautiful, fresh food I get there has been a key element in improving my health. I pay homage to the freshness of the spring asparagus against the delightfully crunchy sprouted garbanzo beans.

My work harkens back to the days when I played with a simple kaleidoscope in my mother’s garden. Fragments of the world around me are fodder for my digital lens. I reflect my photographs through mirrors constructed from mathematical algorithms, utilizing fractal space and polar geometry. The resulting blend balances math and art in a perfectly symmetrical mandala form.

I have manipulated my photograph using a modular graphics-synthesizer program where I can pull out specific elements from the photographic imagery, then alter these, layer after layer, to create new compositions of kaleidoscopic reflections. I digitally cut apart and stack the layers in a composite image. Finally, I manipulate shadows and lighting to create an illusion of depth.