Ann Bates/ Sacred Geometry

Ann Bates has been working with clay for over 25 years, hand-building vessels and sculptural forms. Her pieces are inspired by natural and manmade geological formations, with particular reference to Neolithic standing stones and their carved decorations and symbolic markings. She is especially intrigued by the spiral as both a natural form of growth and a symbol of everlasting life. This interest is reflected in her exploration of how the spiral appears throughout nature—from the placement of seeds in a sunflower head to the formation of a nautilus shell—often through the application of the Fibonacci sequence, a numerical progression in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones.

The Fibonacci sequence also informs her interest in human-made structures, appearing in large architectural forms such as pyramids, as well as in intricate carvings like those found on the entrance stone at Newgrange, the Neolithic passage grave in Ireland. More recently, she has created wall-based works using porcelain on laser-etched boards featuring text or numbering. Ordo et Concordia is her most recent work, continuing her exploration of the Fibonacci sequence.