Anika Harper
I am a student who enjoys math, art and programming. In addition, I often combine these three things by programmatically generating mathematical art. I am also interested in using geometry, algebra, symmetry groups, and some other areas of math to assist with creating art.
This is an artwork based on a concept I was experimenting with
during the summer, with each planet shown in the print being
generated using that concept: take a polygon with n sides, then
connect the points using the triangular number sequence (connect
point (1) with point (1 + 2), point (1 + 2) with point (1 + 2 +
3), point (1 + 2 + 3) with point (1 + 2 + 3 + 4), etc.) However,
each planet is unique despite using the same formula, as they all
use a different value of n (left: n = 303, middle: n = 500, right:
n = 701).
To make it easier and faster to generate the planets, I wrote a
computer program to do it for me; this makes it easy to have n
equal to higher numbers, making it easier to find out how the
pattern works.
This piece (based on symmetry groups) uses brightness to depict shape, with five shades of red including the background. I used the darker shades to create the main shapes (arrows coming together to form a bone-like shape, and flowers in between), and the brighter shades to add some detail. I used the basic bone-and-arrow shape to clearly show certain square borders in this wallpaper group; each square section contains an area with four-fold symmetry, with each square section being congruent to others despite sometimes being reflected.