2020 Joint Mathematics Meetings

Phil Webster

Artists

Phil Webster

Artist

Phil Webster Design

Chandler, Arizona, USA

phil@philwebsterdesign.com

https://www.philwebsterdesign.com/

Statement

I am a self-taught artist exploring the intersections of mathematics, natural forms, ancient design traditions, and sacred geometry. Fundamentally, my art celebrates and illuminates the inherent beauty of mathematical forms. To me there is something sacred in the creation and viewing of these forms that encourages meditation on the deep structure of our world. Since traveling to India in 2012, I have been primarily focused on blending traditional Islamic motifs with polyhedra and fractals. The results are distinctly Islamic in flavor but with a modern twist. One of the primary outputs of this investigation is an ongoing series called Fractal Islamic Patterns, of which this work is a member.

Artworks

Image for entry 'Diatoms I'

Diatoms I

50 x 40 cm

Digital print

2013

My previous Fractal Islamic Patterns had either 8- or 10-fold symmetry. Instead, this piece has global and local 12-fold rotational symmetry. In the full pattern, rosette centers occupy the nodes of 12 fractal quaternary trees emanating from the center of the pattern and then pruned at the 12 sector boundaries. Six levels of a theoretically infinite fractal pattern are shown. This piece varies from previous works in two other ways. Due to how successive layers are connected, a two-coloring naturally creates alternation between the dark and light colors at each level. Also, instead of one pattern in its entirety, parts of two copies at different scales are shown. The result reminded me of creatures on a microscope slide, hence the title.