Kerry Mitchell
"Above and Below"
Digital print, 20" x 16", 2006
While loosely inspired by Escher's "Above and Below," this image looks nothing like it. It's a zoom into the neighborhood of a Misiurewicz point in the Mandelbrot set. The journey to this particular point is exhibited in the pattern of branching arms: from outer to inner, 2 then 3, 4, 5, and finally, 6. This reflects the fact that this zoom is taken from a six-armed spiral disk on a five-armed spiral disk on a four-armed spiral disk on a three-armed spiral disk on the two-armed spiral disk.
"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"
Digital print, 20" x 20", 2005
This image is composed of two sets of Bezier cubic splines. Each set is defined by four cubics splines: two anchor curves and two control curves. The four points defining each individual curve come from interpolating points on the four base curves. The resemblance to fish is a happy accident.
"Squares with Concentric Rings 1"
Digital print, 20" x 17", 2004
This image is based on Wassily Kandinsky's painting of the same name. In my version, the rings are regular polygons and the bands of color are guilloche curves of various frequencies. All of the parameters of the image are based on the number 60. For example, the numbers of sides of the polygons, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are all factors of 60. The frequencies of the guilloche curves were chosen such that each curve makes 60 revolutions before closing.
Kerry Mitchell
Essential Skills Manager, Maricopa Skill Center
Statement about my art:
"My work is composed primarily of computer generated, mathematically-inspired, abstract images. I draw from the areas of geometry, fractals and numerical analysis, and combine them with image processing technology. The resulting images powerfully reflect the beauty of mathematics that is often obscured by dry formulae and analyses.
An overriding theme that encompasses all of my work is the wondrous beauty and complexity that flows from a few, relatively simple, rules. Inherent in this process are feedback and connectivity; these are the elements that generate the patterns. They also demonstrate to me that mathematics is, in many cases, a metaphor for the beauty and complexity in life. This is what I try to capture."