T. G. Vanini

In the course of my research as a pure mathematician I made visualizations of certain abstract structures in finite set theory. Pleased with the organic feeling and sometimes surprising forms of these diagrams, I started to explore their aesthetic possibilities and this grew into an artistic obsession. Each element in my images is grown from a single mathematical seed which I control, with the aid of experiment and imagination and Mathematica software, to obtain a visually satisfying form.

In my creative life as a songwriter, poet and violinist I’ve long been concerned with exploring the boundaries between art, science and mathematics – between form and emotion. And in my mathematical research I have been probing the relations between reality and abstraction. My digital prints, while a more recent adventure for me, are a continuance of these explorations

An Englishman born in Hong Kong, T. G. Vanini has lived for 38 years in Woodstock, New York. His book of poetry, Dear Cloudface, was published in 2018 by Post Traumatic Press. He performs and records his songs and song-poetry with The Princes of Serendip; their most recent recording is Yumpatiddly Bee: Silly Songs (Jaiya Records, 2019). He also contributes his violin to the performances of some of the area’s songwriters, bands and Celtic sessions. All the while he has pursued an active career as a mathematician. He is a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Baruch College, City University of New York.