Materials and Process

• Bike tires (as a stamp)
• Charcoal
• Paper

1. First, I rubbed charcoal on a bicycle tire.
2. Then I rolled the bicycle over a piece of paper.

Artist's Narrative

I have investigated three types of patterns found in Islamic art that are also in various everyday activities -- riding a bike, playing the piano, and walking. In order to observe the visual pattern of these activities, I used bike tires, fingertips, and shoes as stamps by rubbing charcoal over them and then applying them to paper, in regards to the structure of specific patterns.

Rolling a bicycle with charcoal on its tires over a piece of paper created an interlaced pattern. The impressions of the tires never quite line up or are completely parallel as they roll; rather, they weave, lace, and wrap around the other tracks as they roll of the ground.

Teacher's Comment

This practicum presents conceptual interlace. The movement of the bicycle tire is abstract and arbitrary. This creative approach to the assignment leads to infinite possibilities.