Henry Yang — Bringing Math and Art Together
A man that can make even variables and geometry beautiful.
Biography
Normally just mentioning the word “math” is enough to make most people run for the hills. For Henry Yang however, it may be a source of inspiration for his next piece. Henry is young artist based in London, with a style based around simple shapes and complicated meanings.
Henry was born in Shenzhen China, and moved to London in order to pursue his passion for art. Since then he’s grown tremendously, with his works appearing in multiple exhibits such as the 21st Faith Creative Exhibit and the Salon des Refusés Space Gallery. He’s even appeared in exhibits in the United States and China. Part of the reason for this, is his structured yet creative approach to art. Henry’s work typically involves using geometric shapes along with lighting techniques in order to create beautiful paintings, reminiscent of stained glass windows.
Bringing Space Down to Earth
One of Henry’s most noteworthy works is the Arabidopsis Thaliana (Thale Cress). This piece was modeled after the path of the equidistant point between Venus and Earth as they orbit the sun. This resulting pattern has 5 folds of symmetry, and actually looks quite similar to a lotus flower. Although this certainly beautiful, Henry didn’t chose to model his work after the movement of celestial bodies just for appearance.
According to Henry, the 5 lines of symmetry in the pattern is significant because the number 5 is used to calculate phi, a Greek constant. This is important because Greek constants like phi are present in many important equations as well as fundamental patterns in the universe. Phi in particular has been referred to as the fingerprint of the universe, which is precisely why Henry it is a central theme in many of Henry’s works.
Talent with a Side of Symbolism
Although Henry is certainly well versed in advanced mathematics and astrology, his skills in art are not to be ignored. Even when he isn’t depicting planetary patterns of movement, he’s using geographic shapes and patterns in order to create lovely patterns. By combining these patterns with his incredible use of lighting, he’s able to make these shapes look like the beautiful stained-glass mirrors one would typically find in a church.
What’s most impressive however, is that every individual artistic choice Henry makes has meaning behind it. For example, his use of shapes is a reference to how image focused our current society is. Everything from images to our smartphones to ads on our televisions are made of shapes and pixels that are constructed in very specific patterns. And like a window, these shapes are all meant to lead us to new worlds, something that Henry wants to comment on with his work. The similarities to church windows is also intentional, meant to be a reference to the divine light in places of worship that shape elements and ideas.
It’s clear that Henry puts tremendous work into all of his pieces, in the hopes that they can convey how he feels about subjects such as religion, society, and even the universe as a whole. Because of this, not only do Henry’s pieces convey a deeper meaning to them, but they also present this meaning in a jaw-droppingly beautiful way. His use of geometric shapes causes all of his works to look clean and aesthetic. The colors and lighting techniques he uses afterwards then gives his pieces depths, transforming them from a collection of shapes into a beautiful window illuminating a dark church. Finally the additional details he adds in brings the whole image together, downright taking you to another world through a window created by one man’s brush.
