2023 Bridges Conference Art Exhibition

Paul Gailiunas

Artists

Paul Gailiunas

Newcastle, United Kingdom

paulgailiunas@cantab.net

Statement

I have participated in every Bridges conference since 2000, and exhibited artwork since 2007, usually related to my conference presentation. I am interested in any visually interesting manifestation of mathematics, and have used a variety of media at various times: paper or card models, geometrical drawings, computer images, and I have used mathematically inspired designs in leather bookbindings. I exhibited basketry pieces using madweave in Coimbra (2011) and Enschede (2013), and a non-standard structure in Linz (2019). More recently I have been experimenting with kagome, not least because it is much quicker, and in 2021 I used this structure to create closed surfaces.

Artworks

Image for entry 'Kagome Knot'

Kagome Knot

5.0 x 14.0 x 7.0 cm

plastic strapping basketry

2023

While exploring baskets patterned on deltahedra I found some that correspond to mathematical knots. This one is based on what is now known as the triaugmented triangular prism, since it can be seen as a triangular prism with pyramids on each square face. In Mathematical Models by Cundy and Rollett the name tetracaidecadeltahedron is suggested since there are 14 triangular faces. Any kagome structure can be converted to madweave, tripling the number of strands, here to three. Madweave tends to flatten the fabric making the deltahedral form more apparent. The original kagome knot has dihedral symmetry so the two new strands are the same shape, having 3-fold symmetry. The 2-fold rotations exchange the black and red strands.