Isabel

Statement

As a mathematics major with a studio art minor, I have long had an interest in the intersection between art and mathematics. I created this art as part of my work as a research assistant of Professor Benjamin Linowitz. These designs will serve as illustrations in a book Professor Linowitz is writing on the group theory underlying certain geometric designs that often arise in Islamic art. This project has ignited my interest in bringing beauty to educational illustrations. I believe that the figures used in mathematics education can be just as alluring as the mathematics itself. Although in this artwork I move away from my usual medium and subject matter of representational oil paintings, I bring with me my love for color and movement.

Artworks

These four images depict four of the seventeen wallpaper groups. Wallpaper groups are groups of symmetries that yield two dimensional repeating patterns over a flat plane. From the top left moving clockwise, the wallpaper groups depicted are p3m1, cm, pgg, and p6m. While looking at the artwork, notice the symmetries that are present in each pattern. Where do you see translational symmetries? Are there reflective symmetries? What about rotational symmetries? These are some of the questions I asked myself while creating these artworks in order to gain an intuitive understanding of the unique properties of each wallpaper group.