Artists

Reza Sarhangi

Mathematics Professor

Department of Mathematics, Towson University

Towson, Maryland, USA

rsarhangi@towson.edu

Statement

I am interested in Persian geometric art and its historical methods of construction, which I explore using the computer software Geometer's Sketchpad. I then create digital artworks from these geometric constructions primarily using the computer software PaintShopPro.

Artworks

Image for entry 'Dance of Stars I'

Dance of Stars I

12"X12"X12"

heavy paper

2013

Dance of Stars I is one of the Kepler-Poinsot polyhedra, the Small Stellated Dodecahedron, with Schläfli Symbol (5/2, 5). It has been ornamented by the sâzeh modular tiles, that are used in a majority of tiling that conform to local fivefold symmetries. In an article that appeared in Science, the authors proposed the possibility of the use of a set of tiles, girih tiles, by the medieval craftsmen, for the composition of the underlying pattern. Ink outlines for these girih tiles appear in panel 28 of the Topkapi scroll. I used girih tiles and left the dashed outlines in the final tessellation. I also included rectilinear patterns that appear as an additional small-brick pattern in the decagonal Gunbad-i Kabud tomb tower in Maragha, Iran.