Inkblot Graphics

I have been compelled to design my own tile motifs for this current series of work. I have been including tile designs in my work for many years. Often selecting a pattern from the apartment I was living in at a given time. This isn't hard to do in Mallorca, where beautiful hydraulic tiles are abundant.





The hand(s) you see here are derived from a 'Hand of Fatima' door knocker, common in Spain. I have been using the Golondrina, or black swallow, as well. These have featured in my work off and on since 2004. You can see the reference in these early pieces. Flying Towards Center I and II.

The replication of a single graphic into a 4-way tile design creates unique forms in the negative space, which remind me of inkblot tests, a technique used in phsychological analysis that has its origin in the Victorian period.

The inkblots tend to resemble images because of apophenia, the human tendency to see patterns in nature. My ink compositions here are of specific images, it is in the negative space where unexpected forms can emerge.