Artist Biography
I began my undergraduate studies in Physics at the University of Pennsylvania. Then, I changed direction and transferred to the Cleveland Institute of Art and received my BFA in Sculpture and continued studying at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where I received my MFA also in Sculpture. I am now a Professor in the Sculpture Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia where I have been teaching since 1968.
In my early work, I developed images that revealed connections between the human form and geometry metaphorically in more traditional media, bronze casting, My later work in holography and computer imaging has been shown extensively on the East coast including The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Broadway Windows in New York City '90, and the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival '97 (NYC). I was commissioned to construct the permanent centerpiece installation at the Children's Museum of Memphis, Tennessee '90. Numerous grants have enabled my research in the field of 3-D visualization, photoresist hologram making and processing for hologram mosaics.
My computer animation videos which document discoveries linking the human form to sacred geometry won acclaim in many film festivals including honorable mention from the Philadelphia International Film Festival '96 and a gold award from the International Film Festival: WorldFest Charleston '96 and a silver award from WorldFest Houston '97. In 2002, I received an International Digital Art Award and my work was included in the hard copy exhibition which traveled across Australia and then it was shown at the International Digital Biennale St. Petersberg Russia and at selected galleries across Europe. The US. Digital Photography Magazine produced a special IDAA edition for this awards show. 1st IDAA hard copy exhibition for 2002 opened at the Counihan Gallery in Brunswick Melbourne Australia. In 2003, I represented the Sculpture Department in the Faculty Focus Exhibition at the Anderson Gallery here at VCU. This exhibit included large 10 Gliclee prints as well as two video animations.
Artist
Statement
These images are simulations of the reflection patterns that are created inside clusters of reflective spheres. The geometry of the close-packing structure is based on principles of Sacred Geometry. The Golden Mean and Pi are factors that determine the positions and sizes of the spheres. In 1975, I discovered a crude image of the human face and torso while photographing the patterns in clusters of Christmas tree balls. In 1992, after many attempts to refine the image by physically constructing various clusters of reflective spheres for photography, I realized that the most flexible medium for this research is computer modeling. The positions and sizes of the spheres can be established as well as the reflection properties of the surfaces. Lights can be positioned accurately and the color, value and intensity can be controlled. The camera can also be positioned accurately and it's optical properties adjusted. In the computer modeled structures, most of the point lights are positioned at the points of contact and the color and brightness is changed to vary the face image. The movement of the spheres also changes the image as does the movement of the camera. This work takes the viewer into the world of idealized geometry. The nesting, concentric shells of spheres (that fit 10 within 10) that I discovered have unique space filling properties that relate to the properties of 3D space itself. The fact that the human image is generated by the multiple reflections is presented in this work.
Charles R. Henry
