Fractal

In the late seventies Johns began to use a Y shape as the underlying building block for some of his sculptures. This was a long time before the term fractal appeared in common language as a building block to explain the organic growth patterns of rivers, trees, the arterial system of the human body and many other organic systems. Johns derived the shape as a symbol reflective of a male and female unity. As such he felt it had potency as a basic building block to build complex forms. It also suggests that beneath what can be seen there may be an underlying pattern which points to everything being interconnected. In this area contemporary Physics, the Arts and the older Perennial Philosophies have begun to share common ground. A wealth of figurative and abstract forms have unfolded from the use of the Y shape.