Butterflies In A Box | An Inspiring Fractal Art Project

I can't imagine the feeling of being trapped in an enclosed area and not be allowed to move about freely as nature intended. I think of the trips to the zoo with my family when I was young.

I would see the animals pace back and forth as if restless. Then they'd retreat to a corner and lie down. All day, every day, the same routine.

Yes, there are instances where animals require rescuing for various reasons to save their lives or their species. It just feels unnatural to keep them away from their habitat.

I would often wonder what are they thinking about. Animals, birds, and other species belong in the wild as nature intended. I imagine hearing them cry out with their roars or muffled sounds. Or silently crying inside with heartache.

"We're not meant to be taken care of. We were created to take care of ourselves," my inner thoughts concluded as their eyes pierced through my soul and their movements indicative of a rebuff from those who are proud and self-sufficient.

In preparing my fractal art project, I first drew upon the alluring features of four pure fractals. The butterfly is a mysterious winged pattern with a circle core at its center. I can imagine the wings attempting to flap as the inner circle rotates. However, its movements are restricted as it has been captured and enclosed in a frame.

I prepared my fractals with Apophysis. This program is excellent fractal rendering software. As I've explained, a fractal is a visual representation or shape of a detailed and complex set of mathematical equations. It's actually a pattern that repeats in iterations. Each pattern is a replica of itself on various scales.

In nature, examples of fractals can be viewed through the pattern of a snowflake, the branch of a tree, leaves, and the landscape such as rivers. Let's not forget the clouds. In art, think of the mandala.

Here are my four pure fractals I included in this project:

Here is my butterfly. I rendered it on a transparent background so that I could include the fractal box that surrounds it.

This is my frame that enclosed the butterfly.

Now, this fractal art resembles a mandala. It's a purest example of a fractal in art. You can see the iterations looping and repeating itself on a larger or smaller scale.

My final fractal is a beautiful jade pattern of lines and a central circle. It looks mysterious as if some type of symbol that ancient people used in their culture.

Fractal enhancement:

I wanted to enhance my own fractal butterfly so that it would be full on the inside of the wings. I utilized Deep Dream Generator to add a filter.

Below are my steps:

Deep Dream Generator Text input:
"Beautiful and surreal butterfly."

Deep Dream Generator Result:

Next, utilizing Canva, I was able to blend my enhanced fractal butterfly together with my other fractals. I feel the result was awesome with the right amount of flower imagery that didn't cause the combination to become too busy.

Here is the final version:

Thanks for taking the time to view my post. I hope you like my fractal art project.