Emanuela Ughi
Tenured Researcher of Mathematics - Teacher
Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica - Università di Perugia
Italy
All my life I have loved geometrical shapes, and there is nothing I enjoy more than inspiring others to love them, too. I have always found it difficult, though, to describe the mental images of mathematical objects through words alone. It was for this reason that I began constructing geometrical objects: art works, manipulatives, puzzles, and more - to communicate the elegance and beauty of shape. And I have seen, time and again how, by viewing and handling complex objects in concrete form, people of all ages glean an appreciation for – and understanding of – them. It is a joy for me to hear the astonished exclamation: “Ohhhh!” when someone has grasped a mathematical concept through the medium of one of my objects.
The Stijlish Seed of Life
40 x 40 cm
Wood
2019
A single wooden puzzle, based on the Seed of Life (one circle surrounded by other 6 circles, arranged as in the upper left corner image): white, black, grey, yellow, red and blue, the colours of Mondrian.
Mondrian used straight lines, here there are circles: straight lines and circles are the only curves, in the plane, that have a continuous group of isometries. This geometric property allows the pieces of the puzzle to adapt in many (potentially infinite) ways, into different combinations of shapes and colours.
Mondrian used straight lines, here there are circles: straight lines and circles are the only curves, in the plane, that have a continuous group of isometries. This geometric property allows the pieces of the puzzle to adapt in many (potentially infinite) ways, into different combinations of shapes and colours.