Story by Alison Moran

Photo by Blake Hamilton

Approaching a dodecahedron metal sculpture is akin to peering into a kaleidoscope: confusion may be the initial side effect. Like the patterns found in a kaleidoscope, a geometric sculpture embodies structure and sequence, yet, often enough, the equilibrium is hard to grasp – and the repetition and forms can be quite puzzling and captivating.
The visually and analytically stimulating collection of Vladimir Bulatov confirms that he is both an artist and a mathematician. His pieces can be viewed not only as works of art, but also lessons in geometry – lessons that incidentally rejuvenate the binary relationship between sculpture and physics.
Bulatov is one of the world’s foremost contemporary geometric sculptors, a group of artists that emerged fifty years ago. Since then, the art world has seen a proliferation in sculptors who not only apply abstract motifs, but also mathematical knowledge to their works.  
“In my work, I am trying to visualize mathematical and physical concepts in a way accessible to the human eye,” Bulatov says.
Bulatov’s work, which can be seen at his out-of-home workshop in Corvallis, Oregon, is the upshot of his background in math and physics.
For almost twenty years, Bulatov was a theoretical physicist studying mathematical concepts of crystal structures in St. Petersburg, Russia. Bulatov says he was interested in math and physics from an early age although he didn’t become a sculpture until later in life.
His interest in art deepened, however, during his last two years in high school.
“I had very nice teachers in science, but also in art, music, literature, and history,” Bulatov says. “I believe they contributed a lot to widening the metal horizons of students.”
He moved to the U.S. in 1997 at the age of 37, and began his career as a sculptor.
“Eventually, I wanted to make something that is possible to touch and appreciate without much mathematical knowledge,” he says.
In the past decade Bulatov has produced about 36 metal sculptures and a dozen wood pieces.
Bulatov’s signature effect involves a delicate weaving process, giving his sculptures a simultaneous air of speed, balance, and intricacy while offering a whole new definition to the term “knotty.” The bulk of his works are stainless steel or bronze sculptures, like his polyhedra collection, and are solid geometric figures with a number of faces, vertices, and edges.
The geometric concepts that underlie his work might be ponderous if not unleavened by their three-dimensional nature. His works aren’t automatically comprehendible, but they bespeak geometry as an operating principle: dismissing artistic impulse by emphasizing a structural merge between balance, symmetry, and physics.
For example, the rotational symmetry that populates Bulatov’s Rhombic Dodecahedron sculpture is remarkably complicated, encompassing twelve faces and symmetrically equivalent vertices. In its entirety, the sculpture resembles a three-dimensional Celtic knot.
Bulatov says he is just as much inspired by mathematical ideas as he is by the physical world.
“I love patterns of nature: leaves, tree structure, patterns made by wind and water and other natural forces,” he says.
Despite seeking inspiration in the natural world, Bulatov says the most challenging aspect of designing his sculptures is to make each piece look beautiful.
“I do not claim that art should be beautiful,” Bulatov says. “It is just my own goal.”