Lu Buller
Artists
Lu Buller
Assistant Research Scientist
Michigan Tech Research Institute, Michigan Technological University
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Statement
In a middle school drawing class, I learned a method of drawing knots on graph paper. I liked how algorithmic it was, since I enjoyed drawing but had trouble coming up with ideas for things to draw. I became fascinated with it and I’ve been expanding and refining my knot-drawing strategies ever since. My adventures in knot-drawing have ranged from writing code for generating random knots to drawing circles with a compass to designing specialized grid patterns, my artistic use of mathematics and automation co-evolving along with my (lack of) spontaneous creativity.
Artworks
Linked with Flowers
24 x 22 cm
pen on paper
2020
The pattern I used to create this drawing is the result of many knots I made by drawing circles with a compass. At some point I noticed the patterns of circles becoming more and more similar, and I was getting bored of drawing all of the circles by hand, and noticing how error tended to accumulate with increased distance from the starting circle, so I wrote some code to generate the pattern. I fiddled with it until I arrived at a nice balance of having enough of the shapes I liked while keeping the lines sparse enough that I can find them easily. This particular drawing combines together the sort of knot design I originally intended, the circle pattern itself, and some flowery shapes that I noticed in the pattern as I was using it.