Patterns in the WorldPatterns are all around us.

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Patterns help us perceive several individual things as parts of a larger whole. For example we see many geese flying in a “V” pattern; we hear patterns of footfalls when children jump rope or skip; we see individual leaves on small stems repeated in a similar pattern on stem after stem to make up a bush.

If we can figure out the underlying pattern, sometimes we can predict what will come next, like waves breaking against rocks, the cool air movement from an oscillating (pivoting) fan; the hoof beats of a galloping horse, the repeated sounds of a nursery rhyme, or the melody of a song.

Some patterns are unpredictable, or irregular, like the holes eroded into this boulder.

Other patterns repeat in a more predictable or regular way, like the segments of this fossil, ...

... the four parts of this Mexican tile pattern, ...

... or the bilateral (mirror image) pattern of this wall-mounted ceramic piece, ...

... or the alternating black and white triangles in this African hide piece.

Patterns can be relatively simple like these wall tiles ...

... or very complex, like the patterns on this raffia weaving and on these beaded belts, made by Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Some ceramists use patterns in their work. Andrea Gill’s large vessel below is covered with overlapping patterns. Curled lines on the surface are repeated in slender openings cut into the slabs. Andrea Gill uses patterns inspired by Italian, Spanish, and Persian cultures.

Andrea Gill, United States, Persian Ornament, 1996, earthenware, 47 x 21.5”

Ralph Bacerra adds one regular pattern after another to sections of his Portrait Vessel until the viewer is visually overwhelmed.

Ralph Bacerra, Portrait Vessel, gift of Ann and Sam Davis, Arizona State University Art Museum

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