MAZE04
©2012 Craig Ashby
7.75” x 9.375”
Collage

MAZE04, fourth in the MAZE Series (for SEO and those of you with an Oliver Sacks inability to read numbers) is one of my favorites. The color scheme is magical, the mazes visible and all the mirror flips work amazingly well.

The mazes are numbered as individual pieces as such MAZE01-1 to MAZE01-4. They go left to right across the top and then left to right across the bottom. One through four.

I bring this up because it will be easier to discuss them individually. The simple gradients in 1 and 4 help contain the chaos a bit. The photo of graffiti destroys this idea but is balanced by the serenity of the other three.

The mirror flips work extremely well on number 1. The text climbing those bottom walls and on interior walls in number 3. The mirror flips on number 4 adding that lovely leaf pattern. Lovely bits abound.

When I was drawing these pieces in pencil, I created the basic shape. The boundary, the square of the maze itself and the two bottom bounding walls. Then I would come up with the maze. Choose a couple of entry points. And then for each angled wall I would draw a line directly down. Abstracting each into a plane based on a forty-five degree angle.

Tons of polygons kept repeating but each maze is unique. If anyone can find a repeat I would love to know.

Also, it’s appropriate that I point out that none of these mazes work. None of them are solvable. None allow for escape. Most don’t even let you access all the areas from a single entrance. Pair that with the initial discussion of James Dashner’s book as inspiration and you have the basic idea for this series.