2016 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Rachelle Bouchat
Artists
Rachelle Bouchat
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA
Statement
As a mathematician, I have always been fascinated with the beauty that mathematics creates and describes. In the past several years, I taught myself to knit and crochet and have been developing mathematically inspired patterns for the fiber arts.
Artworks
Dragon Curve Double Knit Scarf
137 x 18 cm
Merino Wool Yarn
2015
This double knit scarf brings together the recursive construction of a fractal, the dragon fractal, as well as the recursive construction of an integer sequence, the Fibonacci sequence. The main panels of the scarf are based on a pattern developed from the eleventh iteration of the dragon fractal. Moreover, the striping pattern in between the main panels is illustrative of the Fibonacci sequence with color changes after 1 row, after another 1 row, after 2 rows, after 3 rows, after 5 rows, and with another color change after 8 rows. As this is a double knit pattern, the back side of the scarf is shown in the reverse color pattern.