Adam Chapman
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statement


I seek to capture the fleeting, euphoric moments when the mechanics of the world flash briefly into focus. In my artwork, I create generative systems that cross natural systems (the flight patterns of birds or the way raindrops roll down a windowpane) with cultural systems such as language or representational imagery.

Often the work is a system wherein movement and interaction of discrete elements create outcomes that are unique from moment to moment. I encode the scientifically researched physical laws of natural systems in a virtual environment and then let the system run on its own, generating familiar but distinct moments. The resultant time-based, generative work is familiar in its movement and surprising in its fleeting resolution.

My work-in-progress continues to merge the dynamic possibilities of contemporary tools with the millennia-old tradition of mark-making. In looking at the future of drawing and representational imagery, I am exploring a system wherein rules govern discrete abstract elements that build a greater representational form. I apply the rules of natural phenomena to colored forms and lines. These natural dynamics are then altered so that the forms periodically combine to form representational drawings. A tension is created between the movement of the shapes and lines and the forming of representational images.