I started making art with code in the mid 80's at age 25. Almost 40 years later, I am still designing fractal curves, particle systems, and other math-oriented visual forms. After earning my BFA and MFA, I graduated from the MIT Media Lab, where I did research on evolutionary algorithms in art, animation, and design. My passion has always been in discovering math in the process of making art. Mother Nature is my inspiration for evolving complex visual forms that spring from simple elegant fundamental expressions. I frequently compose genetic algorithms which I use to breed my designs. I wrote two books on fractal curves and created the web site fractalcurves.com. Many of my other creative works can seen at Ventrella.com.
Each of the four pentagons in this image is drawn with a single space-filling, self-avoiding fractal curve. I developed a set of algorithms for generating space-filling curves with 5-fold symmetry in collaboration with Stefan Pautze. The top-left pentagon is based on a fractal generator that Stefan discovered. The other pentagons are filled with alternative fractal curves based on generators of my own design. The mathematical basis for this fractal algorithm is the first 10th root of unity: a complex number that is closely-related to the golden ratio. I use an image processing application to apply colors to these curves. More info at fractalcurves.com
This image is from a series of artworks called Organic Algorithm. The series is based on an algorithm I designed which I call "bubble tree". It was made for the purpose of generating space-filling fractal trees that have no explicit completion time: I run the algorithm until I am satisfied with the amount of detail. As with many of my algorithmic art projects, I develop a mathematical concept as the basis for image generation, and then I welcome-in wabi-sabi: imperfections, glitches, and bugs that evolve into features.
See https://ventrella.com/organic-algorithm/
