In 1964, the young artist got hold of David Hilbert's and Stefan Cohn-Vossen's [3] book Geometry and the Imagination, and began the lifelong study of applied mathematics which inspired his art.
After an early onset of severe Rheumatoid arthritis limited his ability to carve stone,[4] the classically trained artist turned to figurative life drawing.
[7] During the final years of his career, John Pickering took a great interest in computational design and initiated several artistic collaborations with other technically minded creatives, such as Foster and Partners' Specialist Modelling Group, and IJP Architects Principal George L.
[12] Insofar as the artist always produced elaborate preparatory technical drawings (often referred to as blueprints) to make sculpture, his work had something in common with engineering and architectural modelling, but only up to a point.
Thus, concludes his collaborator,[clarification needed] Pickering's work exists in a sort of disciplinary gap where the instrumental premises of architecture, sculpture, building and engineering meet and cancel each other out.