Alyson Shotz -
Spiral Helix
American, b. 1964
Spiral Helix, 2009
Dichroic acrylic, Sintra, and steel
85 x 20 x 20 inches
Edition of 3 with 1 Artist Proof
Gift of Kathleen J. Crispell (LSA '67) and Thomas S. Porter (MBA '67)
Alyson Shotz is an American artist based in New York. She received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1987 and an MFA from the University of Washington in 1991. However, it was not until the late 90’s that Shotz began to make sculpture. At that time, she was compelled to incorporate the physical world directly in her work. Such scientific topics as dark matter, hyperbolic space, string theory and topology serve as inspiration for her work. She also focuses on the inseparable relationship between the work and the viewer.
Spiral Helix is based on the strict mathematical phenomena of rotation around a central point. "The helix is a form found throughout nature. It's similar to half of a strand of DNA, a helix describes a mathematical curve in three-dimensional space and it's similar to a wave - which is the form of light and sound," Alyson Shotz, 2010
