Steve Pomerantz

Statement

Geometry is at the heart of a thousand years of art and architecture as represented in mosques, temples and cathedrals around the world. In its search of perfection and countless symmetries such architecture achieves a beauty inspired by divine motivation. Sacred art represents an application of these basic principles of geometry. Constructions discovered by the ancient Greek mathematicians are merged with craftsmanship to produce paintings and mosaics of infinite variety. I explore and teach about the intersection of this art form with classical geometry by allowing the art to motivate a discussion of geometric fundamentals while using the math to enhance an appreciation of the art and suggest generalizations.

Artworks

Cosmatesque Mosaics created in the 12th Century adorn many Italian churches. In this version, the traditional tiling of hexagons, triangles and rhombi is conformally mapped using a cubic polynomial. Unlike the classical mosaics derived from an exponential map which produces an annulus, alternative transformations produce a range of effects. The cubic transformation used here produces a design painted to suggest depth.