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MATHÉMATICS & ARTS |
Exhibit & Lecture |
Initialy
presented at the Institut Henri Poincaré,
Paris. France. |
January
22 - June 30, 2005 |
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- ROUSSEAU Irène
- Artiste
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"More than 15 prominent museums around the world have Dr. Rousseau's work in their collections. They include the National Museum of Contemporary Art of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC., Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and the Whitney Museum in New York, USA; The British Museum,London,National Gallery of Art, Rome, Italy and MAMCO the contemporary museum of art in Geneva, Switzerland. She received the American Institute of Architect /NJ Presentation Design Award; is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Art . Dr. Rousseau attended Claremont Graduate University in California and received an MFA degree in Fine Arts,and New York University where she received a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her work differs from many mosaic artists in that she features multi-dimensional sculptures resulting in curved concave surfaces with tessellated patterns. By using mathematical concepts, the hyperbolic sculptures seem to "float on walls defying the material substance." |
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| As an artist and non-mathematician my artwork originates with the aesthetic intuition of geometric form, which bears a mathematical coherence found in the natural world. When we look at nature we see patterns. Patterns, are my metaphor for the structure and the hidden formal order of spatial systems that occur in nature. My sculptures are constructed using tessellated patterns made of mosaics. The units or tesserae are pieced together on a three dimensional surface which has negative curvature and is inspired by hyperbolic geometry. My paintings are made of dotted patterns using colored pigments on a two dimensional plane. They are represented as points on a circular disc with hyperbolic distances defined. The visual perception of the intermingling colored dots creates the illusion of a layered three-dimensional geometric space. My sculptures and paintings are my vehicles for expressing the rhythms and energies “found in the universe”. Using an artistic license they metaphorically represent the concept of infinite smallness within a finite structure. |
Click thumbnail to enlarge picture |
Hyperbolic Diminution –Blue.
The tessellation pattern is bilateral symmetry. The triangular colored wedges alternate from turquoise to dark blue. Two alternating dark blue and two turquoise wedges combine and visually form a pattern of quadrilaterals. The arcs are red and orange which decrease in size and are perpendicular to the bounding edge. Some of the orange arcs are incomplete but become complete through the visual perception of closure. They allude to slipping under the tiled blue and turquoise surface thereby visually creating another dimensional space. |
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Hyperbolic Diminution –Red.
The composition is made up of pentagons with triangular wedges, which also form quadrilaterals. These are a result of the color variations of tesserae and pigmented cement. The arcs are blue and turquoise and decrease in size in ever-smaller distances towards the bounding edge. |
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Hyperbolic Diminution-White.
The tessellation pattern is a combination of pentagons and quadrilaterals. The black square tesserae refer to the unit cell. The recessed interior pentagon has an element of irregularity, which metaphorically represents the uncertainty within a determined structure. |
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Hyperbolic Diminution-Red- Fivefold Rotation.
The red square tesserae refer to the rotation. The interior has spokes made of alabaster with its recessed pentagon which are irregular and visually combine to form the closure of a pentagon. Within this structure are other pentagons, which decrease in size into the interior space. |
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Towards Infinite Smallness.
This painting composed of tessellation patterns of dots is on a two dimensional wood surface. It is a small painting 8” in diameter with most dots the size of a pinhead. The main arcs made of glass tesserae. The dotted surface is similar to Impressionist and Pointillist paintings, but differs in the visual effect. In this painting there are multicolored, multidimensional geometric patterns and transparent planes. This is a result of layered dotted planes with hyperbolic distances define. |
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Hyperbolic Diminution-Metamorphosis.
This mosaic wall sculpture is the first step of a series being developed into hyperbolic geometry. This sculpture has a geometric transformation on a three-dimensional surface. The metamorphosis of a geometric shape was inspired by William Huff and by M. C. Escher. My goal is to use geometric transformations on a three dimensional saddle shape with hyperbolic distances defined towards infinite smallness at the bounding edge. |
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| All mosaic wall sculptures (Fig.1-5) are constructed on wood support 23 1/2” diameter, depth 3” , 2003. Fig.3, 2002. The painting "Towards Infinite Smallness" (Fig.6) is made on a wood supprt with glass pieces, 8” diameter., 2003. |
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