The Spheres are a study of memory + geometry.
This has been an ongoing project that began in 2017. It began as a project to practice making more abstract geometries in Blender, and learning how to better light them and present them in interesting ways. It has gone on to inform and inspire components of almost all of my projects since.
It has even become somewhat of a benchmark, a style and technique that I atttempt to emulate during the process of using a new software.
Documentation through Distortion.
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the days began to all blur together. I imagine it was a common feeling for many, that every day was identical to the last, and through that I found I couldn’t remember anything about them. Somehow some of the most tense days of my life were completely gone from my memory.
Its difficult to be creative through that. When everything around you is the same all the time, coming up with inspiration is difficult. I was in need of a way to do something creative every day.
This is what created the daily spheres. It was a real reason to start documenting my life, and giving myself a way to tell the days apart, as well as give my self more “non zero” days of creativity. Every day I’ll take a photo, turn it into a sphere, and post it to Instagram. The current goal of the project is to make 1 year of spheres.
You can view them all here.
Series Zero – Turned into Little Worlds.
The first set of the experiment were created from photos taken on Lac Pemichangan. Each was chosen for the strong memory they hold to me. The images were wrapped around a sphere, and their saturation values used to create a heightmap.
The results are these erratic and almost violent geometries created from very simple and tranquil images. Through modifications in the wrapping of the images around the sphere, elements of the original image can be added, giving hints at what the photo originally was.
In Bloom – Connected with Nature.
Created in the spring of 2020, In Bloom uses the same geometry of Neon Wound, but presents it in a much more relaxed, naturalistic method. Rather than focusing on the agression of the spheres, it tries to contrast the harsh shapes with a more floral palette. Evolving the angst and anger that the shapes came from into something more focused, and more beautiful.
The spheres are a representation of an experience with the distortion of memories. The first series reflects on that, Neon Wound embraces the anger of it. In Bloom is an attempt to make something new. To move beyond the past, and do something better.
Neon Wound – Leaning into the Aggression.
Following the production of UNMASK, I revisited the technique that inspired it, focusing in more specifically on the geometry being created, and removing the image from the final result entirely. Neon Wound is the result. Experimenting with light and geometry, it is a distillation of the violence and aggression of the original spheres.