Emanuela Ughi

Statement

All my life I have loved geometrical shapes, and there is nothing I enjoy more than inspiring others to love them, too. I have always found it difficult, though, to describe the mental images of mathematical objects through words alone. It was for this reason that I began constructing geometrical objects: art works, manipulatives, puzzles, and more – to communicate the elegance and beauty of shape. And I have seen, time and again how, by viewing and handling complex objects in concrete form, people of all ages glean an appreciation for – and understanding of – them. It is a joy for me to hear the astonished exclamation: “Ohhhh!” when someone has grasped a mathematical concept through the medium of one of my objects.

Artworks

A crown of three mirrors, appropriately shaped to display - through reflection - a portion of a circular inversion. By placing a curvilinear triangle between them, the first steps toward a hyperbolic tessellation are visualized, in the style of Escher’s Circle Limit.

A set of laser-cut tesserae to recreate the intricate black-and-white geometric pattern of one of the floor mosaics discovered during last century's excavations at the archaeological site of the so-called "Palazzo di Teodorico" in Ravenna. The tactile pleasure of placing each tessera gradually unveils the hidden complexity of the original Roman design.