The current Russell Day Gallery exhibit "Diagramming Fate" by artist and bookbinder Timothy C. Ely expresses the growth of a graduate returning four decades later as an internationally recognized figure.

Attending Everett Community College from 1967 to 1969, Ely, a Snohomish local, transferred to Western Washington University and finally earned his M.F.A. from the University of Washington. After receiving a National Endowment for the Arts grant, Ely traveled to Japan and Europe to continue studying book binding.

"Time is so strange and elusive," said Ely about returning to the campus for this exhibit. "I am glad to be completing some kind of circular motif by having this exhibition here."

Ely's "Diagramming Fate" is a collection of watercolors and manuscript books riddled with influence from futuristic machines to celestial mapping of "surreal landscapes [psycho geography], consciousness and time."

The black maps within the exhibit are a parallel to an earlier work Ely did in 1992 called "Synesthesia."

"I was examining errors in perception, like hearing a C sharp and seeing red whenever that note is played," said Ely. "The maps grew out of ideas of how we see and shift our seeing of space."

Along with perception and metaphoric mapping, Ely uses mathematical devices, such as a magic square which he uses to create patterns and grids in his work.

Ely remembers a film back in 1965 called "Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land" which introduced him to ways in which math and art merge into a single language. Combining this language with pattern in 1975 after obtaining a book introducing him to Islamic patterns, Ely creates formats for his pieces from these three elements.

Using a variety of materials, from gold to wax and sand to resin, Ely's creations are as eclectically spun together physically as metaphorically, with an end result that looks so alien it's surprising that the basis of the pieces can be found in ancient ideas such as sacred geometry, alchemy and mathematics.

With works featured in museums across the U.S. and in Europe, some of Ely's manuscript books are even found in the Rare Books and Special Collections part of the Library of Congress.

Even at this point in his artistic career Ely is always looking for new connections between numbers, image and form. "I find that I am still learning and refining my ideas and techniques and there is great satisfaction in that," said Ely about improving his art in the future.

The "Diagramming Fate" exhibit will be up in the Russell Day Gallery until March 1. On April 17 and 18 Ely will host a workshop called "Sketchbook: Thoughts and Actions" for a fee of $200, which includes both days and all materials.

For more information head to the Russell Day Gallery section of the campus website, the Russell Day Gallery in Parks or visit Ely's website at www.timothyely.com.