PLATONIC SOLIDS

2014

The Platonic Solids are a series of paintings based on Euclidean geometry which is the ancient study of shapes. In their 3 dimensional form they are the most frequently studied shapes in history and they have been around for thousands of years, geometers have studied their mathematical properties and been fascinated by their inherent beauty and symmetry. What makes them particularly important is that they are considered as the only five ‘perfect’ shapes in three-dimensional space that derive from a sphere. They appear the same from any vertex, their faces are made of the same regular shape, and their vertices represent the most symmetrical distribution of the numbers four, six, eight, twelve and twenty on a sphere.

Awartani has taken direct inspiration from these forms and has translated these three-dimensional shapes into two-dimensional paintings through their essential geometric principles. Each painting is based on the numerical value of the individual vertices of the platonic solids and the colours used are directly inspired by the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) and the heavens that Plato has attributed to each shape.

Tetrahedron from the Platonic Solids series, 2014, Pencil and natural pigments on paper, 81 x 81 cm. © Dana Awartani

Octahedron from the Platonic Solids series, 2014, Pencil and natural pigments on paper, 81 x 81 cm. © Dana Awartani