Final: The Invisible, Weightless Substance of Everything and Nothing

This project encompasses an inquiry to my interest in sound and frequency. The concepts that inform my research and work from a Western perspective involve particle/wave function with quantum connection instead of the more static classical. I also am considering the interconnectedness of consciousness and look at Eastern philosophy for explanation to the substance of things not seen. Energy is seen in many cultures to reflect consciousness resonating and creating our own electro magnetic field. With traditional Chinese medicine this life force is known as qi and with ayurvedic the lens is constructed in chakras.

The visualization of study in sound, frequency and harmonics is known as cymatics. Major contributors include Mathematician Jules Lissajous in the mid 19th century using small mirrors, vibrating tuning forks and laser lights to produce sine-waves and influenced the direction of harmonographs. In 1787 physicist and musician Ernst Chladni found sacred geometry with sand on a vibrating plate and in 1844 Professor Hugh Blackburn with dual pendulums drew pictures of musical harmonics linking site and sound.

To visualize and explain this phenomenon we can look at the mathematical Fibonacci sequence to see vibration and frequency. In a series of experiments conducted using my Tibetan singing bowl, through friction between the wooden mallet and the metal, multiple harmonic tones are created. Creating vibration and sound with liquid inside the bowl I was able to witness the growing wave forces. Theses eventually join in the center to actually lift tiny droplets out of the bowl.

Using the bowl is an act ceremoniously used in ritual to start and conclude practices of meditation. The frequency is seen to ground the state of mind and allow room for consciousness. My painting structure is informed by the patterns found in the bowl when using liquid. Through sacred geometry and the patterns formed through cymatics, created is an underlying structure where vibrational frequencies act as our cosmic common denominator.