In his influential dialogue The Republic, Plato writes that “geometry will draw the soul toward truth.” It’s a sentiment that’s found expression in architecture, design, and the art of Adam Williamson.
Throughout his career, the London-based artist has consistently been guided by geometric principles. Williamson returns, time and again, to meticulous arabesque patterns and organic forms, all locked together in a graceful symmetry.
“I work with geometric forms found in nature and used in architecture inspired by many cultures around the world,” Williamson tells My Modern Met. “I’m inspired by the principles of symmetry, tessellation, and fractals. They are the universal principles that govern growth and structure.”
This fascination is captured in his recent Summer Sphere Project, created in his London studio last summer. Incorporating an original pattern combination by Ameet Hindocha, Summer Sphere Project showcases Williamson’s confidence in shaping wood. The sculpture boasts a mesmerizing rosette pattern, originally drawn onto the sphere with compasses and tailors tape.
“It uses 4,9, and 15-fold rosettes,” Williamson explains. “The dodecahedral grid—12 pentagons wrapped around the outside—enables the pattern to be drawn into the pentagonal sections and repeat across the surface.”
The pattern’s seamlessness is further enhanced by its materials. Multicolored wood has been delicately cut, shaped, and placed around the sphere, a process that, though tedious, generates a wonderful sense of depth, precision, and rhythm. For Williamson, this is crucial.
“Geometry occurs in the art, ritual, and crafts in all cultures throughout human history, directly inspired by the rhythms and structures of life itself,” he says. “Its principles are beyond time and place. I feel at peace working with these forms.”
Summer Sphere Project is only the first of three spheres that Williamson and his studio will construct. He also has many large sculptural projects scheduled throughout 2025 and 2026, all of which are certain to be equally grand and captivating.
To discover more of his artwork, visit Adam Williamson’s website and follow him on Instagram.
This summer, artist Adam Williamson and his studio created an intricate sphere sculpture clad in an elaborate, hand-cut geometric pattern.
The rosette pattern was first drawn directly onto the sphere, and later, multicolored pieces of wood were delicately hand-cut and applied to its surface.
The result is a seamless and graceful pattern that recalls the organic forms and rhythmic shapes for which Williamson is known.
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My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Adam Williamson.
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