In this edition of SketchCAM, we look at the amazing exhibition Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior in a way you might imagine belongs in math class. Using our simple tools of pencil and sketchbook, we’ll reveal the “secret geometry” of great artwork.

Alert readers might already be thinking: Well, if geometric shapes are in a painting for us to see, then why call them secret?  Fair point! Geometry in artwork isn’t totally secret, but it may be unseen unless we look for it.

So how and why to look for secret geometry?

Let’s start with the “how.” We’ll pick up our pencil and draw a simple sketch of a circle inside a rectangle.

Now look at this work by Shahzia Sikander. It is titled Arose:

A secret geometry sketch looks through the detail to discover the biggest approximate shapes (such as circles, squares, rectangles, triangles) in the artwork. We are seeing into the artist’s basic design.

Now the tricky part is to realize we’re not looking for perfectly shaped circles or perfect lines. We’re okay with irregular edges, fuzzy lines, and approximate shapes. Try this: squint your eyes as you look at the artwork. Squinting reduces the detail and reveals the biggest shapes we’re looking for.

When we draw the most simplified design shapes of a large work and reduce their size to a thumbnail sketch, it’s easier to “get” the geometry of the larger work. Don’t forget the frame! That’s the artwork’s big outer square or rectangle and is part of the geometry.

It makes sense that the artist’s choice of materials influences how regular or irregular the geometry may look. Sikander used irregular glass mosaics to form her organic looking circle. (Natural objects have a geometry called fractal geometry, a branch of mathematics that studies shapes that may at first look irregular but have an underlying symmetry.)

So, we’ve seen how a simple design sketch reveals geometry. Now we turn to the “why?” Why is geometry important? First, it gives insight into how the work was made. Second, it helps us understand what the artist is saying. Third, it enhances our experience of the artwork with new layers of meanings and interpretations.

So, let’s now apply this to Arose.

A rose’s shape is naturally circular, its petals spiral outward toward the sun and sky. A rose is a rose. It arises. It arose.

A circle is an ancient, powerful symbol with many artistic and spiritual meanings. Islamic art has a particularly rich tradition of geometric design. So do other world religions, across all ages and cultures. A mandala is a circle design used in meditation and the centering of mind and body for contemplation.

There is always some mystery to great art which, after all, speaks silently in its visual language of color, line, gesture, and shape. It’s here at your Cincinnati Art Museum. The secret geometry is here to see! And even when we see it, there is always something unseen and mysterious that remains.

See you at the museum!