Teresa Downard

Mathematics Instructor
Western Washington University
Washington, USA

So far my mathematical artwork has been about capturing some of my favorite mathematical ideas and trying to highlight the relationships present. What I'm most interested in now, is also getting math back out of the art, seeing relationships that I didn't notice before. I have a background in both mathematics and art, I practice them separately and together.

Freehand
Freehand
18 x 23 cm
Technical pen on paper
2016

In reference to my work on similarity constructions for polygons drawn by hand, all the transformations depend primarily on bilateral symmetry and reflections as shown here.

Similarity Medley
Similarity Medley
36 x 25 x 2 cm
Technical pen on paper
2016

A booklet of 48 similarity constructions drawn freehand: rotations, reflections, translations, dilatations, and repeated ratios. The A-side drawings document my train of thought when I was trying to develop a method for drawing similar polygons by hand. The B-side drawings were created when testing the boundaries of the method. They are mounted in an accordion book of handmade paper to emphasize the simplicity and pen and paper and to allow people to leaf through the pages.