Diagram of Haumea is one of several preparatory drawings for a large-scale sculptural work by Puntusawasdi titled Haumea. The namesake of both works is derived from Haumea, a dwarf planet located in the Kuiper Belt, a region beyond the orbit of Neptune. Haumea is the fastest rotating equilibrium object in the solar system. Due to this intense and rapid speed, Haumea’s shape is perceived by the human eye as a distorted ellipse. Diagram of Haumea began with the artist imagining what the Earth’s shadow would look like at 3p.m. if visualized three-dimensionally. Diagram of Haumea may be thought of as an orthographic projection as it measures out the tilt and angle of this warped form. The drawing features sharply measured lines that are annotated, with individual sections that are numbered in succession. Studying this form on a two-dimensional surface, Puntusawasdi then scaled the sketch up into three-dimensional space with the sculpture, Haumea. This method of working fastidiously through initial sketches is consistent with Puntusawasdi’s practice and can be observed with other works as well.
