2023 Bridges Conference Art Exhibition
Bruce Torrence
Artists
Bruce Torrence
Professor Emeritus of Mathematics
Randolph-Macon College
Ashland, Virginia, USA
Statement
As someone with a passion for the visual arts, I've long been fascinated by the ways humans process and interpret visual information. As a mathematician, I relish the joy and satisfaction that come from solving a difficult problem and understanding its underlying ideas. I strive in my own work to present viewers with patterns and symmetry, to convey a sense of wonder in its intricacy and scale, and to challenge viewers to make sense of what they see.
Artworks
Head-to-Head Dual
27.0 x 29.0 x 24.0 cm
Wood and Aluminum Wire
2023
Suspended in an edge model of the cuboctahedron are 12 figures arranged on the (invisible) faces of its dual: the rhombic dodecahedron. Each figure is shaped from hyperbolas and ellipses that feature the same √2 ratio that characterizes the rhombic faces of this dual polyhedron. The figures meet head-to-head, and are tinted to demonstrate a 3-coloring of the rhombic dodecahedron. Each figure is fashioned from a pair of laser-cut basswood pieces with channels etched for the suspension wires. These pieces are then glued back-to-back to secure the wires into an X truss. The wood balls in the outer structure are drilled using a custom 3D-printed jig.