Degree Show 2024: Meet the Graduates - Thomas Codol

INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND YOUR WORK. WHAT IDEAS AND THEMES ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU?

I'm an artist/designer from California specialising in Islamic geometry. My work is an inquiry of the original designers who created the amazing range of geometric patterns that have been preserved across traditional media since antiquity. In effect, these designs speak to the present as stories of the past. My work begins with the question, "What can we create in the present that will speak to the future?" To answer this question, I have sourced curvilinear patterns found primarily in mediaeval Andalusia to construct a new system of curved geometry that is rooted in a traditional methodology.

What materials do you use? Why have you chosen to work with these materials?

I primarily use paper because it's an incredibly versatile medium. Symbolically, paper is the traditional medium of communication and represents the pure manifestation of spirit. From a practical standpoint, my work requires active experimentation, so by handling my patterns directly on paper, I'm able to test a wide range of potential outcomes efficiently. Since I'm regularly manipulating patterns between both 2D and 3D forms, I can bend, cut, and copy these patterns with ease. When I work with paper, I'm able to connect directly to the creative process and make discoveries quickly while I'm working, which I find exhilarating.

What drew you to the School, and what do you want to remember about these last two years?

Looking back, the School seems like an inevitability. When I first encountered Keith Critchlow's books in 2012, I was living in San Francisco and seeking a context to validate my artistic intuition. I attended SOAS in 2014–2015, where I found studying Islamic art from a historical perspective was too disconnected from the spirit. As a matter of course, I increasingly found myself under the guidance of tutors and alumni from the school. Now I am doing the work that I was put here to do. I want to always remember to return to the creative state of play.

Describe your studio to us, what would we find?

My studio is something like the lair of a mad scientist obsessed with patterns and polyhedral forms. You would find all sorts of shapes hanging from the ceiling and filling the shelves. The walls are covered in an array of hypnotic templates of swirling curves, and different 3D shapes bearing these patterns are protruding from the walls. I am in a constant state of experimentation, and I'm often alternating between different projects. To maintain this state of active discovery, I would have multiple workstations on hand with a limitless supply of paper to test my projects.

Professionally, what are your hopes and goals?

I'm interested in pursuing opportunities where I can continue my research and work as a designer. I want to see my patterns implemented in spaces that people interact with. I'd like to work internationally in the context of public installations, museums, and galleries. My work has enormous potential across a diverse range of mediums, and I have only just begun this journey. So, I would like to continue my experiments with textiles, sculptures, kinetic machines, and architectural bodies. If I am able to find financial backing for this type of research, that would be a dream come true.