Susan McBurney

"Straight-line Mountains"

Computer Graphics - LOGO Program, 12" X 14", 2007.


This artwork is composed entirely of straight lines -- nothing else. They are repeated and rotated to form patterns which are offset and overlaid several times to form even more complex designs by their interactions. The basic types of manipulation are reminiscent of those used in elaborate drawing machines of the 19th century. The shape of the core unit, the "mountain", references the familiar "ladder falling down a wall" problem which describes a curve known as an astroid, also traced by a point on a circle rolling inside a circle four times its diameter.


Susan McBurney
Network Administrator, Western Springs, IL, USA

"Modern computers in combination with graphic arts programs and languages have provided tools that can lead both the artist and the mathematician to new areas of expression. Coming from a math and computer science background, I am especially interested in using these tools from both viewpoints, first to utilize technology to find new designs and secondly, to showcase the inherent beauty to be found within the realm of mathematics."