Jeffrey Ventrella
I'm an algorithmic artist.
As a student, I was perpetually poor at math, not well-suited to the
way it was taught. My self-propelled studies in fractal geometry
culminated in a thesis on fractal art for the first of two graduate
degrees. Further work in cellular automata, particle systems, physical
simulation, and genetic algorithms exposed me to more concepts and
tools for developing a visual language. I now have a deep appreciation
for math - especially number theory.
I am a true believer in the power of natural selection - the mother of
all creativity.
This artwork emerged in the process of developing a technique for
generating self-avoiding, space-filling fractal curves using
integers in the complex plane, and the generalization to
cyclotomic fields. The shapes in this image exhibit a scaling
factor of the square root of 2. It is related to the Pythagorean
Tree.
My fractal curve-based images are made in two phases: (1) software
algorithm design resulting in a single line; (2) non-algorithmic
color processing. Self-avoiding fractal curves divide the plane
into two domains; I apply blurred photos in each domain to evoke a
sense of space and to create figure-ground ambiguity. Self-similar
interlocking puzzles are good exercise for the eye-brain.