Crucible

Crucible captures a specific location deep within the Mandelbrot set—one of those boundary regions where the mathematics gets intensely chaotic before resolving into structure. The name comes from that sense of transformation through intensity, like metal being refined in extreme heat.

Finding this particular view took hours of digital exploration, zooming into the set's edge and watching how patterns evolved. What looks like organic tendrils and spiraling forms is pure mathematics—every pixel representing thousands of calculations to determine whether that point escapes to infinity or remains bounded. The Mandelbrot set is famous for being infinitely complex: no matter how deep you zoom, new details keep emerging.

Translating this into wood required CNC carving rather than laser etching. The depth variations in the fractal—some areas deeply recessed, others barely carved—create shadows that shift as lighting changes throughout the day. Antique gel stain pooled in the deepest carved areas, creating natural gradients that mirror the mathematical density of the iteration counts.

The vertical orientation emphasizes the piece's sense of depth—like looking down into something rather than across a landscape. That perspective shift makes the carved relief feel more dimensional, almost like peering into a mathematical canyon.

What I find compelling about fractal wood carvings is how they make abstract mathematics tangible. You can run your fingers across the carved surface and feel the complexity that exists purely as numbers in the computer. That translation from digital to physical, from calculation to craft, creates a different kind of appreciation than seeing fractals on a screen.