Matt Enlow

Mathematics Teacher
Dana Hall School
Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA

One of the things I love most about math is that it allows me to take an idea or image in my head and bring it to life. The path from idea to reality is rarely straight, and the twists, turns, and obstacles along the way are what make the journey an exciting one. There is so much problem-solving involved in this creative process that, for me, the line between doing mathematics and creating art is extremely blurry—to the point of being nonexistent.

Breaking The Ruled
Breaking The Ruled
64 x 51 cm
Paper
2018

Appropriately enough, I was inspired by Marc Thomasset’s “Inspiration Pad.” I was taken with the idea of taking an everyday object—a sheet of standard ruled paper—and “remixing” it to create something new and unique. The ubiquity and familiarity of the original object make the resulting images all the more arresting.

I created the images in Mathematica, and printed them on standard printer paper. I then hand-cut the corners, and hand-punched the holes.