What is Fractus?
The Universe is never still.
The Universe is never still.
Fractus is a mobile sculptural form developed by artist Vita Solzberg as a contemporary reinvention of ancient folk art that once modeled the structure of the Universe. While most artists explore different forms through a chosen technique or material, Solzberg focuses on a single evolving form — Fractus — and interprets it across diverse media, including paper, plastic, wood, clay, metal, and beads. The process involves multiple skills such as soldering, wood-burning, carving, weaving, sawing, painting, and sculpting.
Each version of Fractus reflects distinct artistic and emotional intentions through the combination of materials, textures, and colors. This layered composition is meant to echo the synergetic nature of the Universe itself—where contrasting elements combine into a unified whole.
The name Fractus is derived from meteorological terminology, where it refers to fragmented cloud shapes that form beneath larger cloud structures. In Solzberg’s interpretation, Fractus represents a refined fragment of the Universe — a fractal composition made of identical, independent elements that connect and repeat at every scale. It functions both as an artistic form and a physical representation of the principles of fractal Dynamic Chaos.
Although based in contemporary theory, Fractus draws inspiration from ancient sacred folk forms found across Europe and beyond. These historical mobiles were suspended geometric structures made from natural materials like straw, created to mark the transitions of the seasons and in life and to invoke harmony, fertility, and divine protection.
These structures were typically made in the weeks between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, a time referred to in Slavic and Scandinavian tradition as the darkest time of the year. They symbolized protection, ancestral wisdom, and the cyclical rebirth of the Sun. Often placed in a corner of the room or over the family table, they were believed to catch negative energy or “spirits” associated with the cold season.
Across regions and cultures, these sculptures had various names:
Namka (Tibet) – often 2D representations of cosmic order
Ojo de Dios (Mexico) – symbolic of the eye of the divine
Himmeli (Finland, Sweden, Estonia) – meaning "sky" or "heaven"
Sodai (Lithuania) – meaning "garden," as in the gardens of heaven
Pavuk, Pajęk, Dziad (Belarus, Ukraine, Poland) – meaning "spider" or "ancestor"
Puzurs (Latvia) – a form with unclear etymology
What is remarkable about these folk forms is that they reflect the fractal structure of the world — a pattern only formally recognized by modern science in the 20th century through mathematics and chaos theory.
Solzberg’s Fractus continues this lineage in contemporary terms, linking ancient symbolic forms with modern scientific insight. Whether exhibited as art or recreated as a puzzle through her project CosmoPuzzle, Fractus invites individuals to explore universal harmony through structure, repetition, and the hands-on act of building.
Artist, Developer of Fractus, Creator of CosmoPuzzle
Vita Solzberg is a visual artist and thinker whose work explores the deep connections between geometry, movement, and meaning. With a background in fine art history, theory, and restoration, as well as a lifelong study of folklore and symbolic art, she developed Fractus as a sculptural form that embodies the beauty of native arts and the logic of fractal dynamic chaos.
Fractus draws from ancient geometric traditions such as Himmeli, Pavuk, Namka, and Ojo de Dios, reimagined as kinetic structures that express the invisible order within the universe. Each sculpture is designed to reflect not just physical balance—but inner motion.
To make this experience accessible beyond gallery walls, Vita created CosmoPuzzle—a hands-on version of Fractus that anyone can build. It’s both a meditation tool and a sculptural experience, offering a way to connect with the harmony of the cosmos through personal creation.
Based in California, Vita continues to create, teach, and develop new ways for people to experience the intelligence behind form—and to feel it, piece by piece.
Fractus is an art piece, inspired by global traditions of sacred geometry, known since... always in Europe, Asia, both Americas, and echoing the patterns found in nature.
Websites: Speaking Creation Inc. CosmoPuzzles Store (coming soon)