Kerry Mitchell
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.
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."