Catherine M. Stewart

 Elements of Grace

In this suite of etchings, photographs of my 15 year-old daughter are juxtaposed with diagrams from the first English translation (1729) of Isaac Newton’s treatise on the laws of motion, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The eternal Platonic forms of the human body are thus linked to the eternal forces of nature. (Varied edition sizes)

(Read full artist’s statement at the end)

Artist's Statement

I have always marvelled at the inherent beauty of mathematics. The intricately constructed system of concepts and symbols and its application to material reality, physics, made a deep impression on me during my early years as a student. It is an influence that continues to resurface in much of my artistic practice.

No doubt it was this early exposure that caused me to search out the texts of Sir Isaac Newton when I returned to university for fine art graduate studies many years later. In two volumes of the English translation of Newton's Principia Mathematica, I discovered several pages of diagrams that illustrated the theorems and propositions within. It seemed to me that these delicately engraved images somehow captured the elegance of Newton's elaborate mathematical investigations into the motion of bodies. I was drawn to these images and felt they would eventually provide inspiration for my own future visual explorations.

Several years later, it occurred to me to try combining some of these 18th century diagrams with photo-details of my fifteen-year-old daughter (eyes, ear, hands, foot, etc.). I discovered that, although the two types of images were so different in subject matter and graphic character, when brought together, they seemed to relate to each other on another, more symbolic level. The eternal (Platonic) forms of the human body can be seen to be visually linked to the eternal forces of nature. A dialectic of sorts occurs with each combination.

These images are particularly well suited to the intaglio print medium which, like Principia itself, is rooted in the past. The original diagrams would have been engraved into metal plates for the 1729 publication of Newton's historic treatise.

It was a great pleasure working on this series which joins what, at first appearances, may seem to be unrelated aspects of my life. While thinking about a title for this suite of prints, it occurred to me that the threads that link these aspects together, like their visual representations, are their elements of grace.

Note: It may be of interest to know that the titles are phrases drawn from the text associated with each particular diagram, with consideration given to the accompanying photo-image(s). Editions are varied (up to 10).

This suite of prints is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Dorothy Fitch Stewart.

Review by Julia Hawkins on ELEMENTS OF GRACE and COPERNICAN NOTES, Millennium Mathematics Project

Review by Gillian Armitage on ELEMENTS OF GRACE and COPERNICAN NOTES, Chop Newsletter

Copyright © 2022 Catherine M. Stewart. All rights reserved.