The University of Tartu Institute of Mathematics and Statistics presents the exhibition “Without Loss of Generality” by mathematician and artist Tiina Kraav at the Delta Study Building. The exhibition explores the intersections of mathematics, art and craft, continuing the dialogue between art and science at Delta and offering new perspectives on the connections between abstract thinking and materially realised works of art. The exhibition is curated by artist Kärt Summatavet.
At first glance, and from a stereotypical point of view, mathematics and craft may seem like two entirely separate fields. Yet in the explorations of a creative professional, a bridge emerges between abstract thought and the material work of art. Mathematical formulas, codes, and rhythms underlie the numerical relationships found in the basic elements of patterns that are widespread in the crafts of northern peoples, the great cultures of the ancient world, and Japan. Ancient masters used different materials and craft techniques to create geometric symbols and patterns that resonate with the underlying codes and systems of signs found in natural structures.
Tiina Kraav (b. 1981) brings together contemporary scientific thought experiments in art with mathematics, craft, and age-old traditions of making sense of the world. Combining design and art, natural and exact sciences, creative scientific thinking, and traditional manual skills, the artist opens up new perspectives on the interplay between playful imagination, humans and nature, order and chaos, art and science:
Without loss of generality, we may assume that mathematics happens on paper.
But what happens when paper is no longer used to write down mathematics, but to fold mathematics or to stitch mathematics?
For me, paper has long been more than a material to write on. It has been a way of thinking. Folds transform a plane into space; stitches break the surface and put it back together. A line can be drawn with a pencil, but it can also be made with thread or a fold. Every intervention leaves a trace and changes the structure.
The works in this exhibition come from different periods and different series. They include folded conversations, softer-order derivatives, geometric constructions, birds, and animals. What connects them is less a particular technique or subject than a way of experiencing the world around me: an interest in structures, relationships, repetitions, and transformations, and in the sensations that both the process and the result create beneath my fingertips.
In mathematics, we often ask what changes and what remains unchanged when objects are moved, rotated, folded, or viewed from another angle. This way of thinking does not disappear when I enter the realm of art. The tools simply change.
Why do I do what I do, as the person I am?
Because I do not want to restrict the generality.
I do not want to decide where mathematics ends and art begins. I am interested in situations where drawing that boundary is no longer possible – or necessary.
Tiina Kraav (PhD) is a mathematician and artist. She received her PhD in Mathematics from the University of Tartu in 2017 and graduated in Leather Design from Pallas University of Applied Sciences in 2018. She is a member of the Estonian Mathematical Society and the Estonian Leather Artists’ Union. She works as a Lecturer in Mathematics Education at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Tartu.
Enjoy exploring and discovering!
KÄRT SUMMATAVET (PhD), CURATOR AND ARTIST
When a young person has to decide what to study and is interested in both art and mathematics, they inevitably encounter ideas that are widespread in society: that making a living as an artist is difficult, while studying mathematics and science will lead to a secure profession. And so, if only to give their parents some peace of mind, they may choose mathematics.
It was not a bad choice. While studying mathematics, I discovered something that suited me. I liked its clarity and logic, but even more than that, I liked the fact that there can be very different paths towards the same problem or solution. I also liked that so much remained difficult to understand and so much knowledge remained beyond my reach.
Later, I became a mathematics teacher, and later still I grew increasingly interested in the learning and teaching of mathematics – in how people think, how they solve problems, and how new ideas emerge.
Once I had qualified as a mathematics teacher, I wanted to study something that would add to what I already had. That is how I found my way to leather design.
At first, it may have seemed like another world: instead of mathematics, there were leather, paper, fabric, thread, needles, and different techniques. But it soon became clear that these worlds were not so far apart after all, and that placing what I already knew alongside what I was learning gave everything I experienced a more personal meaning. The people who began their studies with me came from very different backgrounds, and this made each person’s way of working entirely different and distinctively their own.
What I enjoy most about design and art is the process and the experimentation. What happens if you sew paper instead of fabric? What happens if you bring printmaking techniques into leather design? What happens if a fold is not simply a means of producing a finished object, but becomes part of the work itself?
I do not think I chose between mathematics and art. I chose one first, and then went back for the other. And now they work together.
