Mads Ledbetter
Artists
Statement
I studied fiber arts at East Tennessee State University and am now pursuing a career as a botanist. In the spring of 2021, I and longtime friend and fellow artist Caroline Bowen first collaborated on a project documenting the Brood X cicada emergence in the southeastern US by ethically gathering, processing, and laminating tens of thousands of their wings over the course of six weeks. This piece is our second collaboration in our work together as science artists.
Artworks
Damped Radial Wave 3D Surface Mesh
20 x 55 x 40 cm
3D printed PLA, embroidery floss, alcohol ink, acrylic paint, spray paint, Melamine board, screws, washers
2022
This piece depicts a damped radial wave as a 3D surface mesh, illustrated using a sculptural technique developed as part of an open-ended investigation into different ways of depicting 3D mathematical surfaces. A 3D-printed base featuring a grid of pegs of varying heights was generated by a Python script before being printed as six separate pieces then assembled together on a Melamine base. Embroidery floss was then tied to the pegs to create the 3D mesh, then painted with alcohol ink to show the surface's contour levels, with the peaks of the wave in shades of pink and the troughs in shades of orange.