This painting is the fourth I completed in a five part series depicting the Platonic solids. The solids represent an early attempt to explain the basic mechanics of reality. They embody the four classical Greek elements: fire, water, earth and air (the fifth represents the aether, the fabric of reality, or the shape of the universe). These geometric structures embody the idea that beyond the messy veil of our world is a perfect and unchanging substrate that composes it. This piece depicts the cube which is associated with earth due to its sturdy form. These geometric structures represented the idea that beyond the messy veil of our world is a perfect and unchanging substrate. In conceptualizing this series, I enjoyed the idea of creating a visually pleasing image that could be taken at face value or explored for its esoteric meaning. This concept acts as a metaphor for the platonic idea itself, which presumes a deeper reality beyond our superficial world.

The Platonic solids are described in geometry as “regular, convex, polyhedra.” In simple terms they are three-dimensional forms, in which each side is composed of the same shape (for instance, a cube is made of six squares). Of the infinite number of polyhedra, there are only five Platonic solids.