Tag Archives: Pattern

The Beauty and Fragility of Nature

Meredith Woolnough is an internationally acclaimed, award winning artist from Newcastle, Australia. Her elegant, embroidered drawings capture the beauty and fragility of nature in knotted threads. Vibrant coloured structures of organic shapes hover effortlessly above the surface, elegant and enchanting.

“The more I work with natural forms, the more I find myself drawn into the science of nature. I am fascinated by the way things are built, the way they grow and function. I often find myself marvelling at the perfection of a single leaf or the phenomenal beauty of a coral reef and it can be quite overwhelming at times, almost spiritual.”

Painting as a form of meditation

Deeply connected to nature and interested in human consciousness, Alicia Blaze Hunsicker is inspired by both science and spirituality. Alicia has shown her work both nationally and internationally. She has received numerous grants and awards, and has been a resident artist at the D. Fleiss & East West International Artists Residency, Mallnitz, Austria, as well as at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT.

How we identified brain patterns of consciousness

Davinia Fernández-Espejo is a Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology and Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham. Her main goal is to understand how the brain supports consciousness and what goes wrong for patients to become entirely unaware after severe brain injury. She uses techniques such as MRI (structural and functional), tDCS, and behavioural approaches in both healthy volunteers and patients with a disorder of consciousness to test hypotheses about the role of different brain structures in the clinical deficits they present. This research is directly translated into the development of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to be used in clinical settings, as well as the development of novel treatment approaches.

Why does nature create patterns? A physicist explains the processes behind crystals, stripes and basalt columns

Maxim Lavrentovich is Assistant Professor of Theoretical Biophysics, University of Tennessee, working on theoretical problems in biophysics and soft condensed matter physics.

“Before moving to UT, I worked for three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in the Soft Condensed Matter Theory group. I was a graduate student at Harvard University from 2008 to 2014, working under the supervision of David R. Nelson. I received a B. A. in Physics and Mathematics from Kenyon College in 2008.”

Fractal patterns in nature and art are aesthetically pleasing and stress-reducing

Richard Taylor is an expert in chaos theory, fractals, and the relationship between art and science. At the University of Oregon, he is a professor of physics, psychology and art, and the director of the Materials Science Institute. Richard’s research focuses on “bioinspiration” in which artificial systems benefit from using nature’s patterns (fractals and chaos). His two biggest projects are 1) using bio-inspired retinal implants to restore vision to victims of retinal diseases and 2) using bio-inspired fractal images to reduce people’s stress levels. He also uses computer analysis to study and authenticate art works. Richard is considered the leading expert on the artist Jackson Pollock.