sculpture — COLBY NOBLE BLAKE

MANDELBROT’S FRACTALS: Seeing Infinity

To rotate in three dimensions you need a four dimensional number

Colby Noble Blake, 2022

*On view at the Orange County Arts Council Annual Gala at UAP in Rock Tavern, New York on November 19, 2022. Future installations to come.

Healing is a profoundly innate human experience. Words fail and betray us in the moments of grief we face. Laughter fills us unexpectedly and brings simultaneous tears in the shock waves of discovering what was once is no longer. A memory becomes a cradled dream of inspiration. A sniff of perfume left behind on a sweater conjures whispers of I love you from the most beloved beyond the veil.

Chaos ensues as time continues. Everything is thrown into the air. What is kept in this void comes into play.

This installation presents two paintings on the ground - one dealing with the philosophy of living life and the other an erratic meditation on a chosen death. Hanging elements symbolize the chaos of two truths - you are alive and you will die - and the stuff of it all begs the question - why am I holding onto you, dear things?

At the center, there is a light strand. It is the light within us all and reflects our true selves of loving kindness. Glass cups pour out from the sky and the luminosity of our emotions increase. An amber band at the missing rung reflects faith the size of a mustard seed, a reference to my Mother’s notebooks and the hope we hold onto when we cannot and will not believe the truth of our core being. Hanging ladders construct the first element of Mandlebrot’s Fractals - a triangle. The ladders reflect the rat race climb of human productivity we reduce ourselves to and the ethereal impossibility of climbing a ladder to the heavens to reach those who have gone before us. Clothing is a beautiful element of protecting our core selves and how we present to the world, and yet the light shines through. The clothes are our earthly veils and convey how we chose to be here on Earth. Each outfit tells a story. Each rung spins closer to the grounding truth of the canvases. Door knobs at the bottom of the light strand open the door to the House of Life where we inhabit this dual consciousness of awareness.

The paintings form light boxes to illuminate the invisible connection between our higher selves and terrestrial constraints. A collection of small canvases has grown to beg the question - what do you want from me? I am a thing. I can give you nothing. Nothing becomes what is asked for and the beloved journey we are all on becomes purposeful in sharing the light within.

And a truth behind it all, the boob that feeds us when we’re babes fresh from the womb.

Building this has been a gift of timing, grief and love. Sharing it with you, dear viewer, is my way of saying thank you for this life. Thank you for the pain. I am proud of my cosmic decision to be here through you. I am proud to be a human. I am proud to be a self generating being of light and love. This is what I see in you. This is what I ask you see in you. Yes? Okay. Thank you.

Collaborators:

Ed Manner

Leo Martinez

Joyce Sitt

Nicole Mischo

Darmen Abdula

Carol Valley

Albearto Mizrahi

Special Thanks:

The Ellis

M’Vore

Orange County Arts Council