Probably one of my more complicated pieces as far as the rendering configuration goes. The glowing axis in the middle represents the five-way branching point on the boundary of the Mandelbrot main cardioid and the period-5 bulb (situated between the period-2 and period-3 bulbs). The ribbons growing outward from the branching point represent the different regions that a period-5 orbit oscillates between. At the end of the ribbons the familiar – although unconventionally visualized – bifurcation pattern takes over. The dark strands situated between the ribbons depict the pathways of the unstable orbits which eventually end up at infinity.

Everything else about this image (like the three ellipses and the apparent surfaces around the central axis, or the fractal tendrils overlaid on the ribbons) is a bit too hard to explain in a few short paragraphs. Unpacking all of it will require a much lengthier write-up I have reserved for the future.