Orthorhombic Series, Poster 31

Orthorhombic Series was created as an exploration of the beauty and diversity in mineral shape, structure and color. Minerals are composed of a three-dimensional regular, repetitive internal “building blocks.” Every... [ view full abstract ]

Orthorhombic Series was created as an exploration of the beauty and diversity in mineral shape, structure and color. Minerals are composed of a three-dimensional regular, repetitive internal “building blocks.” Every known, naturally occurring mineral can be placed in one of seven crystal groups based on crystal structure, symmetry and shape. Each crystal class is associated with crystallographic axes length and angles between the intersections of crystallographic axes. The internal structure of the mineral is directly related to the external crystal shape. This series focuses on the orthorhombic crystal system. Orthorhombic crystals contain mutually perpendicular axes, all with different axial lengths, all 90-degrees apart from each other. There are various orthorhombic crystal shapes that can form and maintain these basic parameters. The works in Orthorhombic Series were created using watercolor pencils on cloth-based paper. These works highlight mineral structure, and variety within the orthorhombic crystal class. Mineral subjects are placed in the center of the work, and at the center of the viewer’s attention. The negative space of the background contrasts with the bright and complex mineral forms.