Bridges 2026 Exhibition of Mathematical Art, Craft, and Design
Henriette-Sophie Lipschütz
Artists
Henriette-Sophie Lipschütz
Ph.D. student
Mathematics Department, Freie Universität
Berlin, Germany
Statement
As a mathematician by profession and coming from a family devoted to painting and needlework, I draw inspiration from both. While mathematics and programming taught me a lot about geometry, symmetry, and patterns in general, my artistic abilities allow me, on one hand, to create my findings physically; on the other hand, mathematics-related questions arise from the various techniques I learned as well. So, I enjoy working in both directions.
Artworks
A Grid from Penrose
42.0 x 42.0 cm
crayon on paper
2026
Oscar Reutersvärd, Lionel Penrose and his son as well as M. C. Escher included the optical illusion mostly known as Penrose triangle in their work for very different purposes. The piece shown here expands the idea of this object, which can be represented in a perspective drawing, to an infinite square grid made of beams by including parts of the Penrose triangle into the squares by adding their diagonals. The color gradient chosen for the background emphasizes the deformation of the square grid.