How my research into math history informed my artwork:
For my math history project, I researched Srinivasa Ramanujan and used what I learned to inspire my mehndi design. I wanted to show both his life and his mathematical ideas through symbols and patterns.
I used shapes resembling temple domes to represent his birthplace in Erode, India. Spirals show his curiosity and self-taught approach to math, reflecting how he explored numbers and patterns independently. The checkered background, with blank squares and wavy scribbles, represents the books he read, the letter he sent to G. H. Hardy, and the notebooks full of formulas he left behind.
A twin vine represents his collaboration with Hardy and his work with infinite series. I included dot patterns to show the partitions of the number four, connecting directly to his combinatorial research. A flower with 1729 in the center refers to the famous “Hardy-Ramanujan cab story,” showing his ability to see unique patterns in numbers. Stars on five fingertips symbolize his short but brilliant life, like a shooting star leaving a lasting legacy.
Creating this design helped me see mathematics as more than formulas. It is also about curiosity, creativity, and persistence. Each symbol reflects a part of Ramanujan’s story, from his cultural roots to his discoveries and collaborations. Translating his life into a visual pattern made his work feel personal and meaningful and showed me how math can be expressed through art.
Artwork:
References:
[1] BERNDT, B. C. (1989). Srinivasa Ramanujan. The American Scholar, 58(2), 234–244. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/41211668
[2] Rao, K. S. (2021). Srinivasa Ramanujan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0447-8
[3] Ramaseshan, S. (1990). Srinivasa Ramanujan.
[4] Movie: The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)
[5] Srinivasa Ramanujan - Biography. (n.d.). Maths History. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Ramanujan/
[6] Britannica. (2019). Srinivasa Ramanujan | Biography, Achievements, & Facts. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Srinivasa-Ramanujan
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