Janice McLean
Phyllotaxis in Pyrrole Red is a relatively small work, but it involved hours of hand dipping brass tacks, first in clear acrylic medium and then in a low-viscosity red acrylic with intentionally graduated coverage. My goal was both to show dimension—the viewer experiences the work differently as they move around the piece—and to show the power of mathematics in nature. In this piece, there are 701 tacks, which I’ve used to reproduce the spiral phyllotaxis of a sunflower. I struggled, and failed, to achieve perfection, a reckoning that is evident in the piece and something I grew to accept during the process. Phyllotaxis occurs in up to 95% of sunflowers, near perfection in nature. This is the first in a series of new works in which I explore this subject.
Phyllotaxis in Pyrrole Red
Acrylic-coated brass tacks mounted on birch panel, 18” square $500
Phyllotaxis in Pyrrole Red - detail
Janice McLean is a Kingston-based art director and designer, working primarily in print media. Her fine-art practice includes traditional mediums, but she is currently exploring assemblage—a use of unconventional materials.