TAWA at 45
The Exhibition
Stefanie Mandelbaum
Wired
mixed media, 2017; 20″h x 16″w
“Since I first exhibited at McCarter theater in 1976 to the present exhibit at Ellarslie, I’ve immersed myself in sculptures, paintings, folded canvas constructions, giclee prints and mixed media works. I’ve been included in group shows in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, Mexico, Canada, Spain, and Moscow. Solo exhibits were in New York, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.
From 1991 to 2007, I was an adjunct assistant professor at Rider University teaching mathematics courses as well as art history courses. I have an MFA from Pratt Institute, an MAT in mathematics from Montclair State University, and a BS degree in mathematics from Queens College. I developed numerous workshops that connect art and mathematics, which I gave over about a 20-year period to students and teachers and the public at schools and museums. With Jacqueline S. Guttman, I coauthored ARThematics Plus: Integrated Projects in Math, Art and Beyond which was published in 2003 and revised in 2014. The website for the book is arthematics.net. The website for my artwork, most of which is related to mathematics, is arthematics.wordpress.com. I’ve heard from many people lately that creating artwork is obsolete since AI can do better than any of us. This is nonsense. Art expresses the artist’s deepest thoughts and emotions. The process is as valuable to me as the product. My state of mind when I do a mathematical proof is identical to the one I’m in when I do my artwork. Each mathematical system has its own internal logic, its own consistency. In this respect, a mathematical system is no different from a painting, a sculpture, or a musical composition.”