Sandra DeLozier Coleman
I began writing poetry inspired by mathematics when I was an undergraduate student studying Calculus. My interest in creating math-based art developed just a few years ago. All of my algorithmic designs are drawn freehand without the aid of measuring devices. Many are based on rotational symmetries where the first step is to estimate the location of points that divide the circle into equal parts. From there a design grows in the interplay of freedom and control -- freedom to choose a succession of rules to follow, balanced with the need to follow each rule as many times as required for the particlar symmetry to unfold.
Swirling Symmetry is an approximation of 45 degree rotational symmetry. There is an interplay of order and chaos, in that rules have obviously been applied in an orderly way, but with a sensitivity to initial conditions that leads to variations in scale within the eight repetitions. It is the choice to begin with estimations of compass points, rather than points determined by measuring devices, that creates interest, as the viewer analyzes, consciously or unconsciously, congruencies, similarities, and distortions in the orderly whole.