KNOTTED LINES

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"Knotted Lines" is the name John Whiting chose to describe his unique maze art. The mazes can be solved by following the paths from a designated start to finish. You’re allowed to pass over and under other pathways, but you must stay on your own path. Whiting creates drawings, paintings, and sculpture within the framework of the branching interlaced pathway, much as a poet may adopt a set form, like sonnets or haiku.

The easy maze on the right may be solved by tracing a path from the s to the f.

"Although most of my maze designs are puzzles that can be solved, my foremost consideration is artistic.", says Whiting. "In creating the drawings, I am exploring the elements of pattern, and of how the mind interprets and reacts to pattern. The stylized form of the interlaced pathway, simple as it is, can quickly assume a complexity beyond that which we can take in all at once. Viewing the art then becomes a multi-dimensional tour, as relationships between the forms spring into consciousness, only to vanish when another awareness arrives... The natural tendency of the viewer to follow a path can lead to a roller-coaster ride. In all, I view my mazes as kind of a mental playground."

"In this very simple–very complex world of the knotted line, simple decisions in the process of creation have a powerful emotional result. The particular sweep of the curves, the form and number of intersections, the presence of a radial pattern, or of a boundary, will have a tendency to produce certain feelings- playful, somber, alert, contemplative…"

"Most of the mazes are made with pencil and eraser in several stages, using a light board. The finished drawings are pen and ink. I also do computer-aided designing, projects including hexagonal tile mazes and maze sculptures."

Do you have a special project that would be enhanced by Whiting's art? Contact the artist.