Stuart Townley - The Mathematician and the Artist
I am a mathematician and use continuum models – differential equations -- to analyse various aspects of environment and sustainability. Inevitably, these models are digitized on the computer to produce simulations, which in turn help me to understand and predict various scenarios. In some sense, this exhibition is a metaphor for my research. Paintings are models we can use to represent and interpret reality; landscape paintings create a simulation of environmental surroundings under certain conditions. Reconstructing and reinterpreting these paintings digitally can, in turn, be likened to computer-based modelling.
In my research I am highly collaborative and work not only with other mathematicians, but also a variety of life scientists and engineers. By working with others, one can develop a better understanding of issues and processes. In contrast, here I am collaborating with myself, reworking, challenging and reinterpreting my previous work. In this collaboration, I used the Art Studio®app on an ipad pro® 10.5 with Apple Pencil® to recreate: Blue Sky and Clouds over Exeter (No. 4); Sidmouth Storms (No. 9); Sunset at Lands’ End (No. 11); and Seven-Swans-a-Swimming at The Prince of Wales Pier (No. 12).
Finally. A traditional painting is never quite finished and modifications and embellishments are always possible. But digital art is live and interactive.
