Roundism Art Movement

ROUNDISM is an art movement—a set of principles that can be used to interpret the world in either a figurative or an abstract way, using general art principles as well as special Roundism art principles and laws.

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I conceptualized this movement in 2022, inspired by observations in nature, universe and my studies of art history. I created some of the first early works in 2023 and then developed the main body of work during 2024-2025 at the Melbourne Studio of Art. Roundism was publicly released on November 15, 2025, at the launch of my exhibition, "Glimpse of Another Universe," at the Louis Joel Gallery in Melbourne, Australia.

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This is not a personal style, but a structured, secular art movement that I am defining and inviting other artists to join.

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Contents

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ROUNDISM Manifesto

The Core Principles

• Forms That ARE Part of Roundism

• Perfection versus Imperfection

• What Roundism Is (And Is Not)

​Definition of "completely round, edgeless forms."

Philosophy: Coherence

Historical Roots & Influences

The "Round" in the Universe

This is Just the Beginning

An Invitation

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ROUNDISM Manifesto

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ROUNDISM 

Manifesto by Michal Plis  15/10/2025

 

Roundism is a new art movement exploring the universe and ourselves through purely round forms: dots, circles, rings, and spheres. The movement uses only these forms and excludes: ovals, flowing patterns, straight lines, or other forms. It pursues completely round, edgeless art.

 

Roundism interprets the figurative universe or the horizons of abstraction as a seamless space, where the Round emerges in its purest forms, guided by established art principles. Michal Plis conceived Roundism in 2022 and has been developing it ever since, immersing himself daily and learning to see the world through its concepts.

    

Roundism finds inspiration in the designs of the Intelligent Creator: the shapes of stars and planets, the universe itself, circular forms in nature, and the round structures within our bodies. These patterns reveal harmony, continuity, and endless possibilities. Since the early explorations of abstraction by Hilma af Klint, some artists have touched on ideas similar to Roundism. This movement develops these patterns systematically, encompassing the full scope of completely round, edgeless forms.

 

Michal explores Roundism in abstract form, searching for the hidden and unknown to imagine a round universe of his own making. This manifesto by Michal Plis invites other artists to explore Roundism, through either abstract or figurative paths. 

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Contact Michal if youre an artist and would like to learn more. ​

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The Core Principles

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The principles of Roundism are strict. The visual language is based on a search for purity. The movement's philosophy is to use only the pure, round forms, and not mix them with other types of shapes.

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Forms That ARE Part of Roundism: 

• Circle: is completely round, edgeless form. 

• Dot: is completely round in this minutest single point. It is edgeless form. 

• Ring: is Completely round twice (or more times depending on how many rings in rings). 

• Sphere: is completely round from all sides 3Dimensionally. 

• Combinations of the above are allowed.

 

Perfection versus Imperfection: 

 

This philosophy embraces both the perfection of pure geometry and the organic quality of the human hand.

A perfectly round form (made with a stencil, compass, or digital tool) and an imperfect, hand-drawn round form (which suggests "Round" through its organic, shaky line)  are both valid expressions of Roundism.

 

The intention to represent a dot, circle, ring, or sphere is what matters. Roundism "leaves room for imperfection", and artists can freely mix these perfect and imperfect round forms together.

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Forms That are NOT Part of Roundism:

The forms that are excluded are deliberately non-round shapes, such as:

 

• Ovals: which "start round but then stray" and do not have a uniform, edgeless path.

• Straight Lines: which have an end.

• Rectangles: which have "edges" and "corners that aren't Round." 

• Triangles and other forms with straight sides or corners.

• And any other forms

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​Definition of "completely round, edgeless forms."

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A common point of discussion is, "Don't circles have an edge?" This is a question of geometric definition, and the philosophy of Roundism is very specific.

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• In Roundism, a "completely round" form is one that has a continuous, uniform boundary. It has no corners, no straight sides, and no sections that 'veer off' a perfect circular path (which distinguishes it from an oval). It is a pure, 'never-ending edge.'

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• In geometry, an "edge" is a term most often used to describe a line segment that connects two "vertices" (corners) in a polygon (a shape made of straight lines). A rectangle has four edges and four corners; a triangle has three.

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The four pure forms of Roundism—Dots, Circles, Rings, and Spheres—are not polygons. By academic definition, they do not have vertices, corners, or straight-line sides.

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Therefore, in the language of Roundism, all four are considered "edgeless forms." The term "edgeless" is used by this movement to mean "without corners or straight sides," which is the quality the movement explores.

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What Roundism Is (And Is Not)

 

It is important to differentiate this movement from other uses of the term "Roundism" circulating on the internet.

• This Roundism is not the personal painting style of Corne Akkers, which merges Cubism with a more fluid, non-circular approach.

• It is not the personal musings of Terry Long on "Spiralism and Squareism."

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While any artist is entitled to their own style, the Roundism defined here is a fully structured, secular art movement with a specific, pure philosophy: a search for the perfection of completely Round, edgeless forms and it's inherent coherence.​​

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Art Philosophy: Coherence

 

Roundism is a visual methodology for achieving coherence or unity. It demonstrates harmony through the path of the round. Through patterns of round, it orders even the most chaotic subject matter.

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A key aspect of the movement, for example, is exploring the networking and connections between forms. This aims to find a greater coherence, not just within one artwork, but among all artists pursuing this movement, whether in abstract or figurative approaches.

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Where Cubism often explored mechanistic or erratic fragmentation, Roundism explores the harmonious relationships and deeper meanings that round objects can create in their arrangement.

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This is a secular art movement. It is important to distance Roundism from any specific metaphysical beliefs or faiths. Those are personal. This movement is a shared visual language, separate from religious or historical attachments.

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Historical Roots & Influences

 

Artists have been touching this art movement, this search for the pure-round, for over a century, but not quite clearly understanding it enough. Some of the historical and influnces are listed below: 

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• Leonardo da Vinci: There is a famous story about Leonardo, who was asked by the Pope to submit a work for a commission. Leonardo, it is said, simply drew a perfect circle freehand on a piece of paper and submitted that. He won the commission... because it is considered by a handful of artists to be the pinnacle of artistic skill.

• Australian Aboriginal Art: This art movement... incorporates geometric aspects of Roundism such as dots, circles and rings. It is more about story telling using various visual symbology not just dots or circles.

• Pointillism: This style simply focuses on dots. Roundism goes deeper focuses on every shape that is possible that is round.

• Suprematism: This art movement focused on the fundamentals of geometry (circles, squares, rectangles). Roundism sets the rules that is round objects only... the pure edgeless abstraction. 

• Pioneering Artists:

  • Early abstractionists like Hilma af Klint pioneered abstract circular forms and rings.

  • Wassily Kandinsky's painting "Several circles" (1926) explores circular objects and dots as well as spheres.

  • Yayoi Kusama developed a fixation on polka dots... and is an important link towards the search for the Roundism world. 

  • Quite a few have looked into this to some degree in the 20th Century and the 21st Century we are in now. 

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The "Round" in the Universe

 

It's clear to me from it all that roundness is everywhere in the universe. Everywhere we look there's something round.

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• In the Cosmos: Isotropic gravity is where a uniform shape such as a sphere is formed due to gravity pulling atoms equally from every direction.

• Stars maintain an almost perfect spherical shape.

• Galaxies: Elliptical and Spiral galaxies have round-ish or round shapes... to order the stars in a circular orbit.

• Planets that orbit around stars are usually round.

• Einstein Rings: This is when light... is bent by the gravity of a large celestial body... in the shape of a ring.
   

• On Earth:

• Rainbows: The rainbow is actually a round ring! If you view the rainbow from a plane high enough you can see a fully round ring. 

• Solar Halos: A rare phenomenon... that forms a ring of light around the Sun... when sunlight passes through... ice crystals.

• Water: Tiny sized raindrops are usually close to spherically shaped because of their surface tension.

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• In the Human Body:

• Cells: For the most part cells are spherical, round or elongated.

• Eyes: Then eye balls are round and the iris in our eyes is round... to optimise structure for the collection and focus of light.

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• In Human Psychology:

• Carl Jung: He explores the symbolism prevalent in human society around the Circle and its importance in psychology... showing up in myths... and in people’s dreams. 

• The Book of Circles: Manuel Lima states... "the circle became a universal metaphor embraced by virtually every civilization that has ever existed."
   

It boggles my mind to think how much of the round is all around us (even the word around has the word round in it). I am writing a book which will go into a lot of detail on these observations and how they connect with Roundism.

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This is Just the Beginning

 

The Roundism art movement was conceptualized by Michal Plis in 2022. The 2025 exhibition, Glimpse of Another Universe, showcases the first examples of this exploration.

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This is the beginning. I am just getting started in exploring Roundism as a movement, and more blogs, research, and information is to come.

 

An Invitation

 

I am inviting other artists to join. If this visual language speaks to you, reach out to learn more about the techniques, mediums, and visual aspects of Roundism. Select the "let's chat" blue button to send me a message to get started. 

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Signed: ​

Michal Plis

Melbourne, Australia

15/11/2025

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Page Last Updated on 17/11/2025