Process and meaning: nonlinear dynamics and psychology in visual art

Abstract

Creating and viewing visual art are both nonlinear experiences. Creating a work of art is an irreversible process involving increasing levels of complexity and unpredictable events. Viewing art is also creative with collective responses forming autopoietic structures that shape cultural history. Artists work largely from the chaos of the unconscious and visual art contains elements of chaos. Works of art by the author are discussed in reference to nonlinear dynamics. "Travelogues" demonstrates continued emerging interpretations and a deterministic chaos. "Advice to the Imperfect" signifies the resolution of paradox in the nonlinear tension of opposites. "Quanah" shows the nonlinear tension of opposites as an ongoing personal evolution. "The Mother of All Things" depicts seemingly separate phenomena arising from undifferentiated chaos. "Memories" refers to emotional fixations as limit cycles. "Compassionate Heart," "Wind on the Lake," and "Le Mal du Pays" are a series of works in fractal format focusing on the archetype of the mother and child. "Sameness, Depth of Mystery" addresses the illusion of hierarchy and the dynamics of symbols. In "Chasadim" the origin of worlds and the regeneration of individuals emerge through chaos. References to chaos in visual art mirror the nonlinear complexity of life.