Susan Happersett

Artist
Jersey City, NJ

My fascination with mathematics and my love of visual arts has led me on a journey to build a link between mathematics and drawing. It has become my mission to express the intrinsic aesthetic value of Mathematics in a purely visual language. I use a number of graphing and geometric plotting techniques to examine the aesthetic characteristics of functions, sequences and series in a visual language.

One of my drawing methods involves the development of a hand made grids and a mapping process for each drawing. I decide on the proportions of the grid and then make a plan for the number of markings or strokes in each square. It is the number of strokes in each grid that holds significance. Another technique I use in my work is the repetition of self-similar forms through many iterations. By doing everything by hand there are slight imperfections that amplify and overlap, creating a sense of chaos.

Chaos
Chaos
9" by 9" by 18"
Handmade book, ink on paper
2010

Accordion book of drawing showing a progression of fractal drawings, simulating Chaos Theory, based on my movie "Chaos, The Movie".