Bridges 2024 Exhibition of Mathematical Art, Craft, and Design

Jennifer E. Padilla

Artists

Jennifer E. Padilla

Artist

J. E. Padilla Studio

Altadena, California, USA

jepadillastudio@gmail.com

https://www.jenniferepadilla.com/

Statement

I like to express the beauty of mathematical abstraction and scientific inquiry through my art. From the perspective of a former researcher in nucleic acid and protein design, the subjects of symmetry, algorithmic assembly, and recursion remain central to my work. Through calligraphy, a world of possibility opens up for directly expressing mathematical and technical content in writing, artistically rendered. Illuminated manuscripts offer a particularly appealing avenue for expressing modern-day mathematical content in lettering and design influenced by a wide array of historical styles and techniques, such as gilding.

Artworks

Image for entry 'The Presburger Hours'

The Presburger Hours

31.0 x 46.0 x 31.0 cm

paper, bookboards, ink, gouache, and 24K gold leaf

2024

This illuminated manuscript in a style inspired by the Doffinnes Hours, a medieval book of hours, contains the artist's graduate student notes on the decidability of Presburger Arithmetic. The book is displayed inside an acrylic case open to a hand-calligraphed, hand-illuminated folio gilded with 24K gold leaf. The remainder of the book contains printed pages, typeset in LaTeX using fonts created from the artist's own calligraphy. The book is hand-bound with a Coptic stitch binding. The book represents the vast possibilities for creating illuminated mathematical manuscripts. With digital assistance in this form, the human touch is retained throughout, and the hand-created portions are always ready for display.
Image for entry 'The Infinity of Prime Numbers'

The Infinity of Prime Numbers

31.0 x 31.0 cm

ink and gouache on paper

2021

In this calligraphic piece, a formal logical statement that there are infinitely-many prime numbers is written in a formal script by a broad-edged pen. This is followed by an informal translation in a carefree monoline style. The letters hover in front of a primordial swirl of darkness, suggesting the depths of infinity invoked by the statement.