Karen Amanda Harris
Mathematics, for me, is a spiritual practice. To engage in
mathematical study is to travel into strange and mystical lands, to
explore the very fabric of reality and illusion, and to uncover
secrets which hold even deeper secrets within them. When I set to work
with a pencil, ruler, compasses, or other tools, it is in a spirit of
both discipline and playfulness. The connection of lines and circles
on the paper can suddenly lead to three-dimensionality, or an
unexpected glimpse into infinity. These images are given life with
richly toned markers, gel pens and ink liners. I choose colours with
the same combination of artistic freedom and mathematical precision
that I use for the initial outline - creating an intricate and
glimmering world.
There is great creative joy in deciding where and how to connect
points and lines. In this piece, the architecture, ground and sky
are geometrically aligned to one another. The initial focus is the
large equilateral triangle. Its criss-crossing straight lines
create a 3D warp effect, a Reuleaux Triangle emerging from the
illusory curve. The triangle’s left and right sides form a
hypotenuse against the skyscrapers: the outermost cells of the
triangle align with the skyscraper windows, vertex to vertex. The
cells dwarf the windows, pushing the skyscrapers into the
background. Moreover, the skyscraper sides open out at 90° from
the triangle edge; its lines continue in the foreground, creating
a pattern of advancing triangles and rhomboids.