Susan McBurney
"Star-1"
Digital print, 12" x 14", 2006
In Star-1 I use a semicircle rotated 60 degrees and repeated three times to form a triangular shape with semicircular sides. This basic figure is then manipulated with fairly simple algorithms to produce the following design. The immediate observation is of six dihedral symmetry, but closer inspection shows also a two dihedral figure shaped somewhat like a peanut, rotated three times. In any case, there is nothing other than semicircles that make up the design. It is the way they interact that produces the star and peanut shapes.
Susan McBurney
Computer consultant; Network administrator
Statement about my art:
"The desire to create designs has been popular since the earliest of times, and craftsmen and women have always made use of whatever tools were available. The modern computer serves as a tool for graphic designers and can add new dimensions of precision, repeatability and experimentation to the artists' toolkit. Coming from a math and computer science background, I am especially interested in how characteristics of the computer can be exploited to create new designs. I am also fascinated by the beauty and complexity revealed when simple building blocks and algorithms combine to produce complex and elegant artwork. As in the past I have used one basic geometric unit to compose more complicated designs which reveal other geometries in the interaction of the parts. I call the end results "Repeated Figures" and hope they are appreciated for their geometric structure as well as their aesthetic value. "