2020 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Susan Happersett
Artists
Statement
In my art, I explore the aesthetic qualities of mathematics through sequences, series and, now, mapping. I express my ideas in drawings, paintings, artist's books, and videos. My 20-year mission has been to introduce people to the beauty and grace I find in Mathematics through art. I explore the aesthetic qualities of mathematics through sequences, series and, mapping. Recurring themes in my work are the Fibonacci Sequence, Chaos Theory, the Cartesian Coordinate System, the Cantor Set, Self-Similarity and Fractals. Crucial to me is that all my work is hand-drawn. I design the algorithm and then I execute it by hand. I am the computer.
Artworks
Lace Trap
21 x 42 cm
One of a kind artist's book, ink on paper
2019
The Artist's book "Lace Trap" incorporates a specific type of trapezoids. Three sides of these Trisosceles trapezoids have the same length. The fourth and one of the pair of parallel sides has a length on one half the other three sides.The Trapezoids are stacked into columns creating a plane filling tiling. I draw connectors between points on the perimeter of each trapezoid using an algorithm that creates mappings between each point and two other points on the perimeter.There are nine points on each side on the trapezoid, so the points on the shorter side are half of the distance apart then the points on the three longer sides. This results in s warped sense of space with the shapes going into and off the plane.