Vincent J. Matsko

St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

Mathematical art can take diverse forms. In particular, it may take the form of mathematical illustration. When it does, mathematical art is not an abstract rendering influenced by mathematics, but rather a concrete rendering of a specific mathematical construct. With the many accessible tools now available, it is commonplace for mathematical illustrations to be works of art.

Inverse Ternary Trees
Inverse Ternary Trees
30 x 30 cm
Digital print
2020

The six trees with branches in darker brown are ternary trees whose branches are determined by scaled rotations; in this case, the trees are rendered to a depth of three. The six trees with branches in lighter brown are ternary trees generated by the inverse transformations of the original scaled rotations, also rendered to a depth of three. With the trees suitably scaled and rotated, the leaves of both sets of six trees perfectly overlap. The tree with branches in gold and with orange leaves is one of the trees generated by the inverse transformations.