2016 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Sandra DeLozier Coleman
Artists
Statement
Poetry, art and mathematics present common aspects to me. In the realm of poetry I find rhyme and rhythm to be as satisfying as free verse and in art I find the pattern and repetition of symmetrical drawing to be as calming as meditation. In both, making the choice to define a pattern and then adhere to the plan once begun, presents just enough of a challenge to force my mind to tune out any unpleasant clamoring of racing thoughts and for a time to let go, absorbed in the flow of the moment. The feeling is not so very different from the feeling of satisfaction that comes from completing a proof or from changing the forms of certain equations so that we can quickly analyze the geometric characteristics of the functions.