Relationship Patterns - Myriam Thyes

In these digital images / computer graphics (based on a series of acrylic paintings from 1995-2003), Thyes investigates the symbols that are transmitted by culture and the media, and their meanings. In her undertaking to remodel and redefine the symbols, to give them new life and relevance, the artist operates mostly in the context of interpersonal relationships and their polarities: Equivalent polarities complement, condition and influence each other, their essential natures not always distinct from each other but sometimes two states of the same thing. All their elements incorporate cultural/historical, mythical, social and psychological levels of interpretation.

Geometric forms, with varying functions and meanings, appear in all ages and in all cultures of the world. Also widely found throughout history is a combination of the figurative with geometric forms. These representations seem to belong to the imaginary world of humans and to be essential for the creation of a spiritual world-view. They express the connection between sensibility and thought, between the body and the symbol. A further pair of apparently irreconcilable impulses distinguishes the Pattern Relationships: magic and playful humour – this is increasingly so in the animations, due to the surprising metamorphoses that happen between the symbols.

The artist works on the assumption that established representations can’t be successfully undermined without first utilising them, so that they can be developed further and placed in opposition to new representations.