About the work
The concept of Fractal, which is used as an adjective or feminine noun, comes to us from mathematics and has the following definition:
"Which represents cut-out, fragmentary shapes, revealing similar patterns at increasingly fine scales of observation (e.g. snowflakes, sponges, Romanesco broccoli, etc.)."
These simple forms where the natural order and that of the mind meet are found everywhere from the infinitely small to the infinitely large. From the most natural forms to the most complex architectural forms. All organized around the circle and the square.
At first, these paintings were purely abstract, the author letting himself be carried away by the different digital brushes and his inspiration of the moment.
A decorative aesthetic emerges from this arrangement and a poetry that could be called spatial, because the geometric arrangement creates a pictorial intensity that spontaneously produces colored and rhythmic forms.
Later, with experience, Rodella began to create more and more centered patterns, combining the static with the dynamic as seen below in his "Design" series.
The repetition of a detail and its symmetrical distribution gives a visual dynamic that makes the gaze converge towards the center, fascinating it. And at the same time a thousand details… brings us back to exploring the proper space of the painting. Everyone can project their imagination there, like the famous Rorschach test based on axial symmetry.
Recently the artist has started to photograph architectural heritage. In an effort to highlight his beloved Burgundy. Its rich heritage of old stones inspires his creativity.
This is how some of his digital paintings, heirs to an ancient artistic tradition when inspired by architecture or works of art, present a contemporary aesthetic that renews our view of the past.
As an invitation to rediscover classical beauties, so full of order and harmony, through an aesthetic deciphering grid that applies like a mathematical model.
In this fractal (above) on the theme of Vitteaux, we recognize the 16th century corbels of the Hôtel Ferrand as well as a chapel of the church and its Christ on the cross. Others have seen the light of day in Dijon and the Vogüé mansion, but also Vezelay, the Fontenay abbey, the church of Saint-Thibault or the abbey church of Conques (see below).
To discover the kind of hidden order of the author's fractals, it is appropriate to specify why they exert, whatever the theme, such an aesthetic attraction. Because these paintings could have something too "mechanical" or boring by their systematic symmetry.
But the mystery remains and according to our sensitivity, tastes and colors are not debatable, some seem to us quite simply... "beautiful".
As a matter of course.
Speaking to the mind as well as to our heart, to our eyes as well as to our feelings.
As a matter of course.
Speaking to the mind as well as to our heart, to our eyes as well as to our feelings.
To grasp this evidence of beauty, we must return to Jung. And more precisely to this quaternity:
- Thought
- Sensation
- Feeling
- Intuition
which he defines as representing the four poles of consciousness.
Carl Gustav Jung developed the notion of psychological quaternity, which is based on four fundamental functions of consciousness:
1. Thinking: Rational function that analyzes, classifies and conceptualizes information. It favors logic and coherence to understand the world.
2. Sensation: Perceptive function that directly captures data from the senses (sight, touch, hearing, etc.). It is anchored in the concrete and immediate experience.
3. Feeling: Evaluative function that judges the value of things in terms of emotions and relationships. It directs towards what is pleasant and harmonious.
4. Intuition: A perceptive function that grasps possibilities, patterns, or global meanings without going through rational analysis. It is based on spontaneous understanding and an overall vision.
These four functions are grouped into two axes:
• Thinking vs. Feeling (rational axis: judgment)
• Sensation vs. Intuition (perceptive axis: perception of reality)
According to Jung, each individual has a dominant function that shapes his personality, while the others remain secondary or unconscious. This typology is the basis of the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), which classifies individuals according to their cognitive preferences
In fact, to return to fractals, it is that they "speak" as well to Thought as to Sensations, as well to Feelings as to intuition.
- Of the order of Thought by their geometric and repetitive construction.
- Of the order of Sensation by their hypnotic effect which they exert on the gaze.
- Of the order of Feeling by their colorful harmony and their mastered aesthetic.
- Of the order of Intuition by their analogy with the natural order because wherever we place our eyes, the circle and the square, the center and its four directions are imposed on us.
Based on this analysis and the comparison with Jung's work and his analytical psychology, we can conclude that Rodella's fractal art transcends simple visual expression to reach psychological dimensions that are surely deeper, like windows open to the soul. Their formal beauty invites viewers to a visual meditation, allowing them to explore, in an ever-renewed aesthetic experience, the recesses of their own psyche.