Kerry Mitchell

Statement

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

This fractal represents using Newton's method to solve the equation z^5 - 1 = 0 for complex-valued z. However, prior to solution, the complex plane was warped by 25 iterations of Pickover's Popcorn algorithm. The image shows the orbit of z, relative to the rose curve r = 2 cos(3*theta) + 5 sin(theta). The results of the warping and the rose-curve coloring give the fractal a surreal look, reminiscent of a Dali landscape or the 1938 cartoon, "Porky in Wackyland."

This fractal represents using Newton's method to solve the equation z^3 - 1 = 0 for complex-valued z. However, prior to solution, the complex plane was warped by 30 iterations of Pickover's Popcorn algorithm. The image shows the orbit of z, relative to the rose curve r = 2 cos(3*theta) + 3 sin(2*theta). The results of the warping and the rose-curve coloring give the fractal a surreal look, reminiscent of a Dali landscape or the 1938 cartoon, "Porky in Wackyland."