Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: part II

I mentioned a couple of weeks back the Tinker Tailor show, which finally opened last Thursday night, at Gallery Artisan in Queensland. The exhibition, curated by Kirsten Fitzpatrick of artisan, relied on jeweler and historian Dr Dorothy Erickson to choose the 100 inspirational women on which the 100 brooches were based.

Over on the Craft Australia website both Fitzpatrick and Erickson have published well-researched and very interesting essays on the exhibition and its subjects, which were taken in part from the exhibition catalogue. Each essay is also accompanied by several images of works in the exhibition.

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Above is a picture of my work, created in honour of Professor Ethel Harriet Raybould, a mathematician who paid her way through university (studying mathematics) by becoming a domestic science lecturer with the Education Department. She went on to become the first full-time female academic at the ‘rather reactionary’ University of Queensland.

As Professor Raybould was a mathematician I looked at her life through the significant dates of her lifespan. In her 28th, 38th, 58th and 88th years (the last being the year of her death) occurred most of her life-changing events. Thus I began my research with the number eight, which also influenced my decision-making in the final creation of a series of patterns from which to make the piece.

These patterns were also influenced by the mathematical symbol for ‘infinity’ ∞, as this has the appearance of a number eight (8) on its side.  The concept of infinity has been given form in many fractal curves, with the Koch Snowflake, first identified in 1904 by the mathematician Helge von Koch, being one of the earliest fractals.  Its shape is derived by an algorithm that starts with a triangle, which can be repeated on the shape an infinite number of times, giving the curve an infinite length. I used the third iteration of the Koch Snowflake as the primary motif, which was altered to include eight rather than six points, to create the complex expanded patterns that became the layers of the brooch.

The main material in each work is an antique Australian-made Willow brand baking tin (a small pie tin). In using this object I make reference to the teaching position she took to support her mathematical education. The piece was enamelled to give it a dusty black colour, in reference to the many blackboards she would have stood before, in her long teaching career.