Kyle Calderhead

Statement

I am a mathematician by training who has picked up a habit of crochet and has an interest in the creative visual expression of mathematical ideas. Recent work has centered around the idea that some fractal curves have dimension 2 (i.e. space-filling curves), which is coincidentally the dimension of a blanket (ignoring the thickness, of course). In a nutshell, I find the strong geometric ordering of iterative fractals provoking, the slow process of embedding them into crocheted work therapeutic, and the contrast between rigid geometry and soft fabric enjoyable.

Artworks

This piece is a crocheted blanket with an H-fractal pattern, using an interlocking mesh technique. I have been interested in the idea of creating patterns based on space-filling curves, and the interlocking technique is useful for creating reasonably crisp patterns that conform to a square grid. This technique is not at all common, but I find the fact that the pattern arises from how two completely separate plain square meshes are interwoven to be quite fascinating.