Robert Fathauer
I’m fascinated by beautiful and complex forms both in mathematics and in the natural world. Combining mathematics with artistic creativity allows me to explore and express these ideas in unique images and forms.
The polyhedra in this sculpture result from cutting a cube in half with a plane perpendicular to the long diagonal joining opposing corners. The face revealed by this cut is a regular hexagon. In this work, six of these polyhedra are arranged with the cut faces down and forming a regular plane tessellation of hexagons, as seen in a mirror below the half cubes, which are set atop an acrylic box. From the top, the arrangement exhibits the uncut faces of the cubes. Two each of the cubes are formed from three different types of clay.
Two loops, made using two different types of clay, are linked together. Each loop has three half-twists, making each a sort of Möbius band. The strands cross in six places.
This design was created by decorating a fractal tiling with ring graphics. The design possess a fractal boundary, as well as singular points (at which the rings become infinitesimally small) at the center and other locations within the boundary.