eric sebastian cross
statement
I make medium scale vibrant abstract paintings that document the interaction between emergence theory and visual entropy. Starting with a chaotic under-painting, I add layers of intentional complexity. The painting becomes more and more complex until, paradoxically, it starts to ‘work’ as a whole, and in this stasis there is an emergent sense of simplicity. It is my hope to offer the viewer the balanced experience of the simplified overall piece while simultaneously inviting the perception of the many dynamic relationships from which the whole emerges.
Emergence Theory describes the distinct patterns and behaviors that can arise out of complex systems. Some emergent phenomena take the form of simplicity emerging from complexity: temperature and density are properties relating to the motion and arrangement of large groups of atoms or molecules. Spinning galaxies, biological organisms, and human societies behave in ways that can be elegantly described and predicted. Other types of emergence involve incredible complexity emerging and propagating from simple elements, as with the emergence of life from simpler pre-biotic chemistries on early Earth, or the emergence of the Universe’s structure in the first microseconds after the Big Bang.