LET US CALCULATE
The title of these paintings is taken from a statement by the co-developer of calculus, Gottfried Liebniz (1646-1716), in which he speculated that in the future, "when there are disputes among persons, we can simply say: Let us calculate [calculemus], without further ado, to see who is right." There's an optimism about this idea (that the messy complexity and diversity inherent in human affairs could be reduced to mathematical notations) that I find both appealing and disturbing. The geometric shapes I work with are all 'ideal', until I render them in paint. From a distance, and at a quick glance, the circular grids seem highly ordered. But there's a distinct slippage between the perfection of an imagined form and its imperfect resolution in real materials, that parallels Leibniz’s utopian aims.