2025 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Yana Mohanty
Artists
Yana Mohanty
Educator, mathematician, inventor
Imathgination LLC
San Diego, California, USA
Statement
I am interested in interpreting geometric solids from antiquity and the Renaissance with modern materials. The goal of my work is to introduce the aesthetics and mathematics of these solids to a wider audience. My media vary from plastic tiles, mirrors, to photography. For the past several years I have been upcycling used Tetra Pak® containers for my constructions.
Artworks
This is a model of a discrete torus, known as the mazzochio, famously depicted by Leonardo da Vinci in Codex Atlanticus (1478–1519). It is made with strips of Tetra Paks using the snapology origami technique by Heinz Strobl. This technique is based on hinged connections of polygons without the use of adhesives. Each hinge can orient in one of two possible directions, visually representing the concept of discrete Gaussian curvature. This curvature is defined as the product of principal curvatures, and its sign roughly describes the shape of the surface. The principal curvatures in “Full Circles” can be seen in the orientation of the hinges, so that the sign of the discrete Gaussian curvature can be practically read from the piece.