Bronna A. Butler
My artwork incorporates two of my passions, art and mathematics. My early interest in both resulted in two rotating careers, one in art and another in finance/science. I create multifaceted glass/metal sculptures and two-dimensional imagery focused on recreational mathematics, mathematicians and physicists, and science in general. My work embraces puzzles, enigmas and optical illusions whenever possible. Using Baroque and Renaissance painting techniques, I paint my glass, oil and pastel artworks with thin layers of color. Like these two art periods, I am involved in the “science” of the arts such as the chemistry of paints/materials, precise anatomy, perspective, and mathematical content.
Found in Nature’s patterns, mathematics since Euclid and artworks for centuries, the “Golden Ratio” continues to be embraced and studied by many disciplines. In order to visually internalize the familiar formula, (a + b)/a = a/b, I drew polygons representing the relationships/ratios (“area models” I have since learned). I arranged the “polygonal visual ratios” below a golden rectangle, in order to facilitate an easy grasp of the phi relationship. Using pastels, I painted the puzzle “Golden Math” which illustrates the ratios using golden retrievers and tennis balls. My intent was to encourage the puzzle-participation and serve as a memory-imagery-aid: golden ratio and golden retriever.