My work is composed primarily of computer generated, mathematically-inspired, abstract images. I draw from the areas of geometry, fractals and numerical analysis, and combine them with image processing technology. The resulting images powerfully reflect the beauty of mathematics that is often obscured by dry formulae and analyses.
An overriding theme that encompasses all of my work is the wondrous beauty and complexity that flows from a few, relatively simple, rules. Inherent in this process are feedback and connectivity; these are the elements that generate the patterns. They also demonstrate to me that mathematics is, in many cases, a metaphor for the beauty and complexity in life. This is what I try to capture.
Artworks
Quarter Radian Dark
40 x 50 cm
digital print on aluminum panel
2014
This is a standard Julia set fractal, in which the Julia parameter is located at one-quarter of a radian along the boundary of the main cardioid of the Mandelbrot set, a point with a chaotic orbit. The interior of the set is rendered black and the outside according to the iteration count. A large number of iterations was used to highlight the detail associated with the chaos.
Last Days and Time
25 x 50 cm
digital print on aluminum panel
2014
This apocalyptic view was created by combining six different fractal functions: two Mandelbrot sets, two Julia sets, and two Newton fractals. They were combined by interpolating between the six using a Bezier polynomial. The title is taken from an album by Earth, Wind & Fire.
Julia Descending a Staircase
40 x 50 cm
digital print on aluminum panel
2014
This is my first attempt at a cubist style of fractal image. It was inspired by Duchamp's famous painting,"Nude Descending a Staircase." I created it using the embossing technqiue to get the minimal sense of the Julia sets, like Duchamp’s painting resembles sketches of the woman. The parameter changes slightly with each step, so the shapes vary down the staircase. Also, the lighting angle changed each step, to add more variation and to help distinguish the eight different Julia fractals. None of them are entirely visible in the stack, like Duchamp's figures all kind of running over each other. But I went from a more gray palette at the back (left) to black/white at the front (right) to help separate them and to give a sense of motion.
