2021 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Phillip Webster
Artists
Phil Webster
Artist
Phil Webster Design
Chandler, Arizona, USA
Statement
I’ve had a life long love affair with geometry, and my sweet spot is taking ancient geometric traditions – particularly, in recent years, Islamic geometric patterns – and combining them with modern mathematical concepts like fractals and polyhedra to create unique, modern art and décor pieces for the modern home. I love making art that captures ancient traditions with a modern twist, and that brings order, beauty, and peace into peoples’ private spaces.
Artworks
This work is a manual re-creation of an especially elegant two-level Islamic geometric pattern found at the Madrassa Madar-i-Shah in Isfahan, Iran. The piece was drawn using nothing but pencil, straightedge, and compass. One half is fully complete and colored, while the other was left partially constructed to highlight the construction process. On the left the larger, top-level pattern -- a well-known pattern based on 5- and 10-fold symmetry -- is visible. These lines were widened, and then smaller versions of the same 10-pointed star are fit precisely into the widened bands and the reduced tiles in between. The tile shapes in both the small and the large pattern (before widening) are identical, making this pattern truly self-similar.