Jane Pak, Michelle Heredia

This dress was designed to show the connections between math and nature. Fractals lie in the intersection of these two concepts--the prominent Fibonacci spiral (phi) being the first to come to mind. The artists immediately thought to create a bodice out of two inverted Fibonacci spirals. This was created out of wire using a scaled template of the fractal. They also noted the presence of the Fibonacci spiral in seashells found at the beach, and decided to adhere real seashells with the Fibonacci spiral on them to the bodice using wire. The artists also connected the 'waves' of the beach to sinusoidal waves. They used a laser cutter to cut out a sine curve into the pieces of tulle to create the skirt. The desired period and amplitude of the sine function was calculated in order to achieve the desired aesthetic effect. Mathematical care and precision was taken in order to continue the sine curve onto the next piece of fabric. A sewing machine was used to create pleats out of the sinusoidal-cut tulle. These two different mathematical concepts are united through their connections to nature and are embodied in the design and creation of this dress.