Charlene Morrow

Faculty, Psychology & Education/Guest Faculty, Mathematics
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA, USA

I work mainly in the medium of origami. I am motivated to understand mathematical ideas that I encounter through the process of expressing them in visual ways. If the results are a visually pleasing piece of art and a deeper understanding of the mathematical ideas I set out to explore, then I am satisfied, but not for long because there is always a new question waiting to emerge.

Solar Orbits
Solar Orbits
4" x 17" (eventual size 16" x 17")
Folded Paper
2011

This origami quilt, inspired by a wall drawing by Sol LeWitt, was folded from 408 squares of paper and patterned according to the group theoretic process outlined in the paper submitted for Bridges 2011, "A Group Theory Approach to (re)Contructing Sol LeWitt's Drawing Series IV, #413." The construction involves symmetries of a square, orbits, and permutations. Further information is contained in the submitted paper. The four-color squares are connected with a tab and pocket construction thus no tape or glue holds the quilt together. This version is displayed in four separate sections to emphasize a subtle color sorting that can also be found in the LeWitt wall drawing.