2016 Bridges Conference

Caroline Bowen

Artists

Caroline Bowen

Artist

Hypotenuse Studios

Louisville, Tennessee, USA

cabowen6@gmail.com

http://hypotenusestudios.com

Statement

I was an art student for my first three years of college before a chain of events led to me becoming a math and physics major. I began designing math and physics visual aids in my spare time in 2013 after being frustrated with what was available to me, in particular the limitations inherent in presenting a 3D concept through 2D means such as the page of a book or a computer screen. This is work I intend to pursue as a career, primarily working with both sculpture and paper engineering, with a focus on making math and physics more accessible for all.

Artworks

Image for entry 'Re[arctan(z)]'

Re[arctan(z)]

38 x 38 x 38 cm

Plexiglass, house paint, clearcoat spray, clear gesso, nylon spacers, threaded zinc rods, lock nuts

2015

This sculpture was inspired by an example in the Mathematica documentation for the SliceContourPlot3D function. I generated 2D contour plots of the function in Mathematica, exported the contours as paths to Adobe Illustrator, and laser engraved them onto the protective paper adhesive on the Plexiglass, which had the holes predrilled. I then removed the adhesive on the parts to be painted, leaving the rest to serve as a mask, which I removed after applying a clear coat and sanding the edges of the Plexiglass smooth. The color scheme was created to be colorblind-accessible, with the paint custom mixed from printed swatches.
Image for entry 'sin(xy)'

sin(xy)

38 x 38 x 38 cm

Plexiglass, house paint, clearcoat spray, clear gesso, nylon spacers, threaded zinc rods, lock nuts

2015

This sculpture was inspired by an example in the Mathematica documentation for the SliceContourPlot3D function. I generated 2D contour plots of the function in Mathematica, exported the contours as paths to Adobe Illustrator, and laser engraved them onto the protective paper adhesive on the Plexiglass, which had the holes predrilled. I then removed the adhesive on the parts to be painted, leaving the rest to serve as a mask, which I removed after applying a clear coat and sanding the edges of the Plexiglass smooth. The color scheme was created to be colorblind-accessible, with the paint custom mixed from printed swatches.