Exhibit by Susie Mathre
Exploring puzzles, paradoxes, and prickly problems in the realm of math and plants.
Jessie Wilber Gallery
February 3 – April 30, 2025
Reception
Artist reception with artist talks on Friday, February 28th from 5:00-8:00pm
Artist Statement
This body of work is a continuation of the work I showed here in 2021, The Botany of Math(re). I’ve continued exploring the intersecting relationships between plants, mathematics, and the patterns they create. It includes sculptures that incorporate invasive weeds or plants that have some unusual characteristics, and framed pieces that incorporate leaves and seedheads to illustrate paradoxes, puzzles and unsolved problems in the mathematical world.
My interest began with plants that caught my eye: those that were sharp, grasping, or shapely. Their patterns, sequencing of growth, and tenacity sparked my curiosity and channeled me to create these pieces. My wish to understand the plant dynamics I saw made me revisit long forgotten algebra and geometry. That led me to research ancient mathematicians and philosophers, and finally developed into learning about historic math riddles in order to incorporate the concepts into my work.
Each piece generally takes me anywhere from a month to several months to complete, requiring trial and error, constructing prototypes, and breaking several saw blades in the process. With every piece, I learn something new: a new tool, a new technique, or a new math concept that is a little beyond my comprehension and requires time to understand it, but ultimately the joy of creating continues to keep me engaged.
Artist Bio
Susie Mathre is an artist living and working in Bozeman, Montana. As the daughter of botanists, she spent many hours in the family garden and also enjoyed exploring all things mechanical. She attended the University of Oregon, where she majored in fine art, taking a variety of studio classes, including printmaking, photography, letterpress printing and fiber arts. She graduated with a BFA in Fiber Arts in 1989.
Before becoming a full-time artist, she worked for the Community Food Co-op in Bozeman for over 20 years designing and fabricating signs and creating limited edition letterpress posters. She was fortunate to acquire a Vandercook Universal 1 letterpress in the early 1990s, (and thousands of pounds of lead type) which she currently uses in conjunction with metals, beeswax, and plant materials.
She is a recipient of a MAGDA (Montana Art Gallery Directors Association) traveling exhibition grant, and won Awards for Excellence for Distinctive Downtown Signage (The Co-op Downtown), and Sculptured Landscape from the City of Bozeman.
