The Shape of Time

Continuing the work of representing 4 dimensional works using acrylic and pigments on wood, this series now considers time as its own dimension, as is traditional in the physics of space-time. Time as a linear construct is an extremely modern concept, based purely on the combination of Newtonian physics and standardized world time zones. But time actually runs at different speeds, depending on motion and gravitation, and it is “location dependent”: there is no fixed point in time for the entire universe (thus the concept of relativity).

Our perception of time is actually greatly influenced by rotation—the day/night cycle (i.e., the rotation of the earth on its axis), monthly cycles (based approximately on the phases/rotation of the moon, which also influence earth’s gravity and motion), and the cycles of seasons over the course of a year (which result from the tilt of the earth’s axis as it completes its annual rotation around the sun).

As we age, we feel a sense of life moving forward, and each of these cycles feels shorter and shorter, since they are a decreasing fraction of our lived lives. I envision this as a tightening spiral, like a conical slinky of sorts.

The artwork in The Shape of Time takes two forms: one set of paintings directly incorporate spiral elements, some of which even have aspects of the tightening, mentioned above, as well as a sense of forward motion created by the subtle darkening and lightening of color-shifting pigments from inside to out. The second set of paintings illustrate motion as a group, with each painting depicting a different location within a hypercube (i.e. a 4D cube).

Each of these groups (along with their individual titles), shown together, tell a story all their own that progresses through time, changing over the course of the day and quality of light.

CEL 2025

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