Bill Kronholm

Associate Professor of Mathematics
Whittier College
Whittier, California, USA

A current project explores image processing techniques, deconstructing digital images only to reconstruct them with layers of physical materials. Topological features of the images determine the number and order of the layers. These experiments involve techniques which combine layers of materials in new ways, and encourage applications of topology to image processing.

Deconstructing and Reconstructing Piet Mondrian’s "Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow"
Deconstructing and Reconstructing Piet Mondrian’s "Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow"
44 x 60 cm
Layered lasercut paper
2017

Painters create images by layering paint on a canvas. Image processing algorithms deconstruct the image, quantizing it, using a finite palette of colors. The quantized image is separated into monochromatic layers, which are then cut based on topological properties of the quantized image. When stacked, the layers recreate the quantized image.

Shown is the result of applying this process to Piet Mondrian’s "Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow" (1937-42).