ISOM SYMBOLIC ART

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Adinkra symbols, physics and my doodles...

Over the last 50 years I have been creating black and white drawings of personal symbology. I have amassed over 3,000 small drawings and I continue to create 3 or 4 each day and post one daily on my blog. I refer to this collection as the Isom Codex. Part of my process is searching the web and books for some links to my unconscious drawings. Several years ago, I noticed that my titles have some relationship to quantum physics and scientific notation. I have very little education in the area of math and physics. However, I continue to find some connection between my drawings and scientific phenomena, especially physics. My symbols are very much like Adinkra symbols and through my research I found out that physics has some relationship to Adinkra symbols. I realize these relationships are not new discoveries but my unconscious doodles seem to telling me something. The Andinkra symbols are "supporting the transmission of a complex and nuanced body of practice and belief". In my blog, symbols open up and make transparent insights and truths that were previously hidden. I don't know if I will ever find out what all my scribbles on paper mean, but the journey is very exciting.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adinkra symbols recorded by Robert Sutherland Rattray, 1927
This article is about the ancient Akan visual symbols. For the use of the term in theoretical physics, see Adinkra symbols (physics).
Adinkra are visual symbols, originally created by the Akan of Ghana and the Gyaman of Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, that represent concepts or aphorisms. Adinkra are used extensively in fabrics, pottery, logos and advertising. They are incorporated into walls and other architectural features. Fabric adinkra are often made by woodcut sign writing as well as screen printing. Adinkra symbols appear on some traditional akan gold weights. The symbols are also carved on stools for domestic and ritual use. Tourism has led to new departures in the use of the symbols in such items as T shirts and jewelry.

Calabash adinkra stamps carved in Ntonso, Ghana.
The symbols have a decorative function but also represent objects that encapsulate evocative messages that convey traditional wisdom, aspects of life or the environment. There are many different symbols with distinct meanings, often linked with proverbs. In the words of Anthony Appiah, they were one of the means in a pre-litrate society for "supporting the transmission of a complex and nuanced body of practice and belief".