Claudia Silva Ruiz

Statement

My work unfolds at the intersection of mathematics and visual arts, exploring concepts such as infinity and symmetry. Part of what drives my practice is the idea that the same piece can function as both an aesthetically pleasing object and a visual aid that facilitate the understanding complex mathematical ideas. I draw inspiration from Islamic geometric art and the work of M.C. Escher, both of which demonstrate this idea. My ongoing work consists of exploring diverse art styles and mediums, both traditional and contemporary, primarily in painting ranging from abstract to figurative content, extending to digital design, and the use of programming and laser cutting technologies for creating drawings, sculptures, and various other artworks.

Artworks

This piece explores the juxtaposition of two geometric principles — the periodicity of the hexagonal-symmetric pattern and the aperiodicity of the Hat tiling — within a single image. Because any Hat tiling contains an underlying hexagonal lattice, this symmetry can be used as a compositional device. Drawing on Islamic geometry and mandala forms, I developed a flower-like motif from each tile's geometry, so that Hat boundaries are inscribed in the flower distribution, while flowers arrange into a periodic hexagonal field, holding both orders at once. The work asks whether periodicity and aperiodicity — often framed as opposites — are ever truly separate, or whether, as the Hat tiling suggests, one is always folded into the other.