Unfolding to infinity.

It’s easy to get lost in Sari Anderson’s works, the tiling geometry expanding out from your gaze seemingly infinite, an impact that can be both comforting and disconcerting, as Sari explores “the nested dimensions in space and time.”

From mid-August, Sari was the artist in residence for a month in Gallery 3 at the Latrobe Regional Gallery (LRG). This was the first such residency program at the gallery in many years, and echoed the circumstances that cultivated the creation of The Big Picture by Bill Young, which was displayed simultaneously in Bill’s retrospective exhibition, and in Gippslandia #23.

In the late 70s, Sari studied art at the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education (GIAE), and in her words, has “dabbled in art over the years,” making valued contributions to ARC Yinnar and exhibitions presented there.

Sari works in drawing and sculpture and has assisted the development of the Yinnar community garden with her sculpture pieces and expansive mosaics.

Sari shares, “I see a connection between ancient knowledge, present day science and possible futures. Some of the concepts explored include hermetic philosophy, alchemy, geometry, symmetry, hyperspace, circle packing, fractal structures, vector equilibrium and quasicrystals.”

The quest to firstly prove the existence of quasicrystals, then better understand them, is a high-stakes, thrilling tale for you to explore. But they’re unique in a geometric sense as they “reveal self-generating patterns that…[are] without periodic repetition.”

As Sari details, “Tiling geometry is an ancient practice, which has been used extensively by artists, scientists and mathematicians. From Moorish decoration, which evokes God without idolatry, to fanciful obsessions like M.C. Escher or the discoveries of mathematician Roger Penrose and material scientist Daniel Shechtman. Artist Peter Stämpfli and amateur mathematician Joan Taylor (a Tasmanian who developed the single aperiodic tile) have also influenced my work.”

“Over 2000 years ago, Plato proposed a structure based on two perfect triangles made from the symmetric division of a square and a triangle (Plato’s Timaeus). I’ve developed this idea to form a tiling which combines the square roots of two and three and forms a resonant harmonic structure. This structure has been a well of inspiration for my art.”

During her residency at LRG, Sari worked from the gallery for 20 hours each week and explored ways of translating her work to a larger format, and into three or more dimensions.

“This was an enormous challenge over a short time frame. The gallery crew was very welcoming and helpful, and provided a wonderful space to work with.

“The response from visitors was amazing and [they] gave me a chance to try to explain the concepts and practice, but it wasn’t easy to fit the creative process to a finite end, which left one large work not yet finished.”
Another piece by Sari which was not included in the LRG exhibition is now being exhibited at the ARC Yinnar 40th anniversary show.

Take a look and see how tiling can “convey a mysterious world of forms” as Sari explores this ancient and modern technique in her quest for different ways of perceiving reality.

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Gippslandia - Issue No. 25

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