Rashmi Sunder-Raj

This is a chain maille piece that I created using a method that I described in my 2022 Bridges Conference paper “Approximating Edge-Touching Regular Polygon Patterns Using Chain Maille”. It is based on an extended version of the pattern of regular edge-touching 18-gons shown in Figure 1a of that paper. Although the pattern may look very symmetric at first glance, closer inspection will show that it is only rotationally-symmetric and lacks mirror symmetry.

This piece started with a physical “wedge squiggle” made of a backbone of sequins shifted from side to side by wedges formed using crochet stitches. See “Physical Representations of Polygon, Wedge, and Arc Squiggles” from the 2023 Bridges Conference. I programmed an algorithm to create wedge squiggles into an early 1990s copy of Maple and generated a plot showing multiple copies of the squiggle fit together to form a ring. I then merged copies of a picture of the physical squiggle with the plot to show it emerging. I also included a faint ghost of the original Maple install disk to show it exerting its influence on the present. The digital image was part of a submission for the 2023 Maple Conference Art Gallery titled “Manipulation”.