Daina Taimina

Statement

Each day is like the stitch in the fabric of our lives. Over the years, days bring different colors and change patterns. I have been crocheting various hyperbolic planes for 25 years. At first those were meant to be classroom teaching models. To my surprise they eventually found their place in fiber arts and developed another meaning. My models are made following a simple generative rule – increasing crochet stitches in certain ratio (for example, crochet five, increase in sixth). These stitches are like records of time and embedded memories.

Artworks

In the Bridges 2022 art exhibit I am showing two pieces from a series Manifolds. Both of these pieces if opened up would be the same shape – symmetric crocheted hyperbolic plane. A hyperbolic plane is very plastic – it can be a covering space for many different manifolds. So these two shapes represent how the same thing can be seen as visually different, but on a deeper level they are the same.