Infinite Sand
Beverly McKay
Artwork for ‘Infinity‘ (Issue 24)
The Science
Muslim scientists, including Ibn Sina (980-1037), have long debated infinity. Ibn Sina envisioned an unbound universebut most Muslim theologians criticised this because Islam holds that everything emanates from God in a Divine Unity. Artist-mathematicians, of that era, visualised this in bordered artwork that expanded from a central point. In regions where people were more influenced by mysticism or Sufism, designs were created with no centre or borders to cover whole surfaces and infinitely beyond. Similarly, for me, each walk in the Arabian dunes, with the distant, ever-changingviews and the enduring biodiversity, was an exercise in experiencing unbounded infinity.
The Medium
These images of the Sand cat (Felis margarita), Domino beetle (Anthia duodecimguttata) and landscape (Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates) were painted individually using watercolour and gouache paints on Arches Hot Press watercolour paper and digitally photographed. These three images were collaged together in Adobe Photoshop Elements along with the Islamic designs in the sky and sand foreground. This Islamic tracery was scanned from pattern books of traditional Islamic designs and then modified (cropped or expanded as needed and coloured) in Adobe Photoshop Elements. In printed form, it would suit 40cm x 40cm.
The Artist
Beverly McKay is a Canadian freelance science illustrator with a particular interest in natural environments and their inhabitants - both plant and animal. Previously residing in the UK, Lesotho, and the United Arab Emirates, she now lives and works in Halifax, Canada. She primarily works with watercolour, ink, photography, and Adobe Photoshop Elements. More examples of her illustration work can be found on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverly-mckay-5568881a/recent-activity/all/
Copyright statement. This work is published under the CC BY-NC-SA license