New Sculpture: Voynich Manuscript f48r
Flowers’ Flight
Materials: Flameworked borosilicate glass, Phosphor, Krypton gas, Electricity, Porcelain, Glaze, Gold lustre
Inspired by Voynich Manuscript page “f48r”
Video of the finished sculpture, and the interactive effects of the light:
Another video I made to show how the sculpture looks as I turn its light on and off— an unintentional effect with the plasma light is that as the power is dialed up, some of the leaves and flowers light up before the others do, and the effect is reversed when the power is dialed down.
The mystery of the 15h-century Voynich Manuscript has been studied for the past hundred years, and over those years, new pieces of the puzzle have been analyzed from many angles and dedicated research continues today. Both the text and the imagery present perplexing problems. I think that current research, while it raises more questions than it answers, suggests that there are multiple layers of meaning to be found. With continued efforts, perhaps a better understanding can eventually be reached. This sculpture reflects the idea of layered meaning: from the front, it appears that there is just one plant, with leaves branching off of either side—but just like the manuscript, there is more than what first appears on the surface. Moving to the side, the perspective changes and two different plants become visible: separate layers that become aligned only when viewed from a particular direction. The first line of text from the manuscript page that inspired this sculpture is inscribed on the base with gold lustre that weaves itself among the plant roots, requiring the viewer to look from all sides in order to “read” it. With the interactive effects of the light, the explorer of mysteries can reach out in the dark to “illuminate” this three-dimensional manuscript page and its strange and otherworldly flora.
To see how I made this sculpture, the process is documented here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
This is the first piece in my Voynich Sculpture Series to pair porcelain and glass in the same sculpture, with the base made from porcelain, and the plant stems, leaves and flowers made from glass. It was a challenge since I have been learning the glass and lighting techniques along the way. Now that this one is finished, I will be continuing the series with some more sculptures that combine glass, porcelain and light in different ways.