SERIES > Crossings

cyanotype knot theory crossing number
Cyanotype on watercolor paper
[2] 7 x 5 in*, 12 x 9 in, [2] 30 x 22 in*
2017
cyanotype knot theory crossing number
Cyanotype on watercolor paper
[2] 5 x 7 in*, 9 x 12 in, [2] 22 x 30 in*
2018
cyanotype knot theory crossing number
Cyanotype on watercolor paper
[2] 5 x 7 in*, 9 x 12 in, [2] 22 x 30 in*
2019
cyanotype knot theory crossing number
Cyanotype on watercolor paper
[2] 8 x 8 in*, 12 x 12 in, [2] 30 x 30 in*
2019
cyanotype knot theory crossing number
Cyanotype on watercolor paper
[2] 5 x 7 in*, 9 x 12 in, [2] 22 x 30 in*
2018
17-1
cyanotype on watercolor paper
9 x 12 in
2020

Loosely based on the topological system of "knot tabulation," Crossings is a series of cyanotypes made from continuous line drawings. The sketches (essentially mathematical knots) are made into two stencils each. The positive and negative images are created by shading in accordance with the Jordan Curve Theorem, a knot theory principle that is easily understood as "checkerboard," but is incredibly difficult to demonstrate through proofs. The result is a diptych, titled using the drawing's "crossing number"—the sum of every point at which the line intersects with itself.

Due to the imperfect nature of hand-cut stencils, cold press watercolor paper, and the cyanotype process itself, minor subtleties emerge from these otherwise calculated arrangements.