Janet McClain

The original photo of a door manipulated in Photoshop was designed during the studying of group theory as a class project with classmate Taeo Jung. I was inspired to continue experimenting with the image which led to its printing on Poly Crepe de Chine fabric. Upon receipt of the fabric, I felt drawn to converting it into a loose fitting, pullover pleated dress. Individual copies of the adapted image were then printed on copy paper, encased in resin, and styled as a necklace and earrings. The design of the image for the fabric uses reflection and rotation symmetry, which I think makes patterns feel natural and pleasing to the eye. Additionally, the fabric shows a tessellation - a geometric shape, with no overlaps and no gaps - allowing the image to be stretched over the length of the fabric. The pattern looks similar to what you’d see in a kaleidoscope. This effect comes from applying multiple reflections at angles, which is the mathematical concept of dihedral groups (a type of symmetry group). This fabric shows the D4 example. This is a one-of-a-kind dress made of a single-print fabric sown by the artist.