The Secrets in the Dots

It looks simple but labor intensive: dots and lines, lines and dots. For Colombian American artist Pipe Yanguas, the complexity of each surface is not only about the dots and the lines, it is about the message. Think Maya calendrics: dots and lines denote numbers in a simple way: horizontal bars represent the quantity 5; a dot represents the quantity 1. It was neat and efficient with symbols as key elements. For Yanguas, his dots and lines also carry meaning beyond the attraction of the patterns and designs. There is a secret alphabet hidden within the configurations of each composition – large to small – that links each element, just as he sees the links in humanity. Spherical forms with their infinity of dots and lines represent a world connection and the web of opportunities available to all. Cosmic in significance, the patterns are constantly moving in optical profusion.

Yanguas’ mindful approach to each work is in keeping with an upbringing surrounded by the beauty of nature in his native Cali, Colombia, where gardens abound, and a lush landscape offers inspiration. One of the most interesting twists to his story is the discovery of a very unique creature, the coreid bug nymph. A particularly vibrant species of insects (and pests), the bug has multi-colored stripes and dots that are an artist’s dream of a design that is both organic and geometric. Yanguas imagines a decomposed bug pattern as the source of his myriad of ideas that take shape in complex, overall arrangements that are more distinctive than they may first appear. No two are the same. Reminiscent of computer boards and matrix mathematics, there is an exacting scheme to their placement, further distinguished by colors and location. Most of his work is site-specific, especially his murals painted for inside walls and large outdoor spaces, and the configurations lend themselves to multiplicity without losing the secret identity and its message within their framework.

Each work contains an information system that elevates complex surface designs above a mere accumulation of shapes to a universal language.