Material World
Opening Reception: November 3rd from 5-7pm
Event: November 3 - December 31
Artwork: Queen of Diamonds (reversible design)
www.artsarasota.org
Art Center Sarasota
Material World exemplifies the flourishing visual arts community in Sarasota by featuring the wealth of creative talent from artists who live and work in the Sarasota community and around the state of Florida. Co-juried by Brian Haverlock and Tom Stephens
Although the history of playing cards can be traced back to the 13th century, the inspiration for my design stems from an idea introduced much later in history. In the 17th century, “reversible” court cards placed the suit symbol face-up in opposing corners so players would not be tempted to rotate their cards, which often gave a hint of what their hand contained. However the face cards still contained one sole figure (king, queen, or jack) standing in the middle of the card. In the 19th century “transformation” cards were created which allowed the image of the court figure to mirror itself. Our Queen of Diamonds is a “transformation” card, and the diamond shape – a rhombus, an equilateral parallelogram, a shape that mirrors itself – is a natural “transformation” shape, unique amongst the suits.
