Karl Kattchee

Associate Professor of Mathematics
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA

Mathematics can be the subject of art, or it can be part of the process. Sometimes both happen at the same time. I like to experiment, and I have used pencil, pen, pastel, acrylic, paper, cardboard, scanners, cameras, computers, printers, metals, and wood in creating mathematical artwork. Recently, I've been making tiny drawings of small groups of combinatorial objects.

Untitled (R5C2)
Untitled (R5C2)
8 x 8 cm
ink on paper
2019

This drawing is based on a certain closed path on a 6x6 grid, namely, the one found in the fifth row and second column of my digital print "45 Poppies." That poppy can be resolved naturally into a diagram of three rectangles on the same 6x6 grid. Because we can rotate by quarter turns and repeat the process, there are FOUR new diagrams induced by the original poppy. I positioned them and shaded them according to my taste. The original poppy does not appear.