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A pattern can be defined as the repetition of events or elements according to a certain criteria . It is a principle of art and of the universe itself. A pattern in art is a repeating element or set of elements in a work or in an associated set of works. Artists use the patterns as decoration, as a compositional technique, or as a complete work of art. The patterns are diverse and useful as a tool that captures the viewer’s attention, either in a subtle way or by being very evident.
Patterns are an essential component of art, drawing in and mesmerizing the viewer. The ability to recognize patterns is a basic human ability, and identifying patterns in paintings is a practice that often has a calming psychological effect on the viewer. Pattern recognition is a function of the human brain and can be applied to images, but also to sounds and scents. It allows us to quickly assimilate and understand our environment. Pattern recognition is what allows us to develop various activities, from recognizing people and their moodsto solving puzzles or sensing when a storm is approaching. Patterns in art satisfy and intrigue us, whether those patterns are clearly identifiable, like Andy Warhol’s repeating images, or must be unraveled in the work, like Jackson Pollock’s seemingly random splatters.
The use of patterns
Patterns can help define the rhythm of a work of art. When thinking of patterns, images of checkerboards, bricks, and floral wallpaper come to mind. However, patterns go much further: a pattern does not always have to be an identical repetition of an element. Patterns have been used since ancient times, since the first works of art were created. A pattern can be seen in a pride of lions on the walls of the 20,000-year-old Lascaux cave, and in rope marks on the earliest pottery recovered that is 10,000 years old. Patterns have consistently adorned architecture over the centuries, and many artists added patterns to adorn their work, as mere decoration or to identify an object,
The shapes of patterns in art
Patterns can come in many forms in art . An artist may use color to indicate a pattern, repeating a single or selected color palette throughout a work. They can also use lines to form patterns. Patterns can also be shapes, either geometric such as mosaics and tessellations, or natural, such as floral patterns.
Artists also tend to follow patterns throughout their work. The techniques, the media they use, the approaches and themes they choose can show a pattern throughout a lifetime of work and often define a signature style. In this sense the pattern becomes part of the creative process, the actions of an artist, a pattern of behavior.
patterns in nature
Patterns are found in various expressions of nature, from the leaves on a tree to the microscopic structure of those leaves. Shells and rocks have patterns, animals and flowers have patterns, even the human body as a whole follows a pattern and includes innumerable patterns within it. In nature, patterns do not always follow consistent rules; it is possible to identify patterns that are not necessarily uniform. Snowflakes in many cases have six sides or six vertices, but each separate snowflake has a pattern that is different from all the others.
A natural pattern can also be broken by a single irregularity or placed outside the context of an exact replica. For example, a species of tree may have a pattern to its branches, but that does not mean that each branch grows in a designated location. The natural patterns have an organic design.
artificial patterns
Man-made patterns often seek perfection. The simple pattern of a chessboard is easily recognizable as a series of contrasting squares drawn with straight lines. If a line is out of place or a square is red instead of black or white, it challenges our perception of that familiar pattern.
Artistic expressions also attempt to replicate nature in man-made patterns. Floral patterns are one example; a natural object is taken and turned into a pattern, either in a repeating format or including some variation. Flowers and vines don’t have to be reproduced exactly in an artistic pattern. The emphasis in the work is associated with the general repetition and the placement of the elements within the general design.
irregular patterns
Our minds tend to recognize and enjoy patterns, but what happens when that pattern is broken? The effect can be disturbing, and it will certainly catch our attention because it is unexpected. Artists understand it well, so they often use it and generate sensations in the viewer including irregularities in the patterns. For example, the works of Maurits Cornelis Escher play on our desire to recognize patterns and that is why they are so captivating. In one of his most famous works, Day and Night (1938), we see the chessboard transform into flying white birds. However, on closer inspection, the tessellation is reversed with black birds flying in the opposite direction.
Escher distracts us by using the familiarity of the checkerboard pattern along with the landscape on which it is superimposed. At first we know that something is not quite right and so we keep looking at it. In the end, the pattern of the birds mimics the patterns of the chessboard. The illusion would not work if it were not based on an uncertainty in the pattern. The result is a high-impact piece that is memorable to all who see it.
Sources
Briggs, John. Fractals: The Patterns of Chaos: a New Aesthetic of Art, Science, and Nature. New York: Touchstone, 1992.
Leoneschi, Francesca, and Lazzaris, Silvia. Patterns in Art: A Closer Look at the Old Masters. Abbeville Press, 2019.
Mattson, Mark P. Superior Pattern Processing Is the Essence of the Evolved Human Brain . Frontiers in Neuroscience 8 (2014): 265–65.
Norman, Jane. Patterns East and West: Introduction to Pattern in Art for Teachers with Slides and Materials. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986.
Phillips, David. Patterns in Pictures for Art and Science . Leonardo 24.1 (1991): 31-39.
Shen, X., Efros, A., Aubry M. Discovering Visual Patterns in Art Collections with Spatially-Consistent Feature Learning . Proceedings IEEE Conf. on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2019.
Swan, Liz Stillwagon. Deep Naturalism: Patterns in Art and Mind . The Journal of Mind and Behavior 34.2 (2013): 105–20.
