John Gurbacs has spent over fifty years studying a single question: why do the branches of a tree look like a bolt of lightning? Why do the rings of Saturn resemble the rings of water in a puddle? Why does a zebra's pattern echo a human fingerprint?

The answer is fractals, the mathematical language through which nature describes itself across every scale, from the microscopic to the cosmic. Gurbacs was exploring this territory long before it became a subject of scientific fascination. His paintings are the visual record of that exploration.

His process begins in the field. He photographs construction debris, tropical foliage, microscopic patterns, underwater scenes. He makes collages until something reveals itself: a connection between forms, a visual rhyme between scales. Then he draws, and paints. Some works take months to complete.

Marcolina sat down with John Gurbacs to talk about his practice, his obsession with fractals, his public murals, and what it means to spend fifty years studying the geometry hidden inside nature.

Watch the full interview and hear John describe his process in his own words, from the field photographs to the collages to the months-long process of building a finished canvas.