Gabriele Meyer
I like to crochet hyperbolic surfaces. This work is at the
intersection of mathematics and art. The technique is an ancient
female craft, but it borrows from basket making, since I crochet
around shaped line. This gives the surface the tension, so that it
curves in space. The undulating curves are hyperbolic, i.e. the
neighborhood of any point is shaped like a saddle.
My surfaces are large and are hung from the ceiling. They show their
structure particularly nicely, if they are illuminated. The
illumination is by fairy lights, which are battery operated, so the
surface can be hung anywhere.
The forms I make are inspired by sea life, algae and also blossoms.
This surface started out as a long tube, which gradually gets
larger at one end, until it widens ever more explosively and the
tension in the surface makes it curve hyperbolically.
The fairy lights inside can show this structure very
effectively.
This surface image reminds me of sea creatures illuminated
mysteriously in the darkness.
This piece started out as a cone shaped ovoid. I added three
hyperbolic axes on the outside. Each time the crochet reached the
long end of the cone, I added a little to the length of the tail,
which is two hyperbolic planes attached to each other. The
transition from three axes along the cone to two axes along the
tail was a bit tricky, since the hyperbolic crochet was done in
one go as a single spiral.
I imagine some sea algae, when I see this. There are algae with
little enclosed air bubbles, which help the algae float.
The cone shaped ovoid appears pink, because the plastic wire
inside is bright orange. Orange seems to be the industry standard
for thick plastic wire.