Geometric fantasy on the theme of analytic functions
No. 206, 1971
(Analytic functions and surfaces)
Oil on art board, 50 x 70 cm.
On this surreal sea, whirling with activity, great soap bubbles and films pock the horizon, waves flow in from the distance, and a funnel draws up into itself parts of the central scene. Conveyed here intuitively is the character of analytic functions and manifolds, corresponding to which we find smooth geometric shapes and some singular points that form elegant curves and surfaces. Diverse analytic images appear on the scene, all sorts of bending curves, warped surfaces, and singular points, including certain minimal surfaces, such as soap films and bubbles. Also cloaked within certain objects, surfaces of constant mean curvature — boundaries of interfaces where two different physical media achieve a harmonious equilibrium. Curiously, drawing an analytic curve by hand turns out to be a very complicated matter. However hard you try, most often you end up drawing not an analytic or smooth curve, but a curve of finite order of smoothness.
