Susan Happersett
In my art, I explore the aesthetic qualities of mathematics through sequences, series and, now, mapping. I express my ideas in drawings, paintings, artist's books, and videos. Recurring themes in my work are the Fibonacci Sequence, Chaos Theory, the Cartesian Coordinate System, the Cantor Set, Self Similarity and Fractals. Crucial to me is that all my work is hand-drawn: I design the algorithm and then I execute it by hand. I am the computer. To reach a broader audience, I collaborate with a small press to create limited edition artist's books of my drawings.
Cartesian Lace Bricolage is my most recent collaboration with Purgatory Pie Press. This new series of limited edition letterpress artist's books features my Cartesian Lace drawings. Two distinct tilings are used to create a complex arrangement of patterns. Both tilings are grids of mappings on the Cartesian coordinate system (x, y, z axes). One is a bijective mapping, the other a non-bijective mapping. The prints are cut and folded to form new book structures I call Syncopated Intertwined Double Accordions.