ART AND MATH SEMINAR:Between Perception and Structure: Seeing Math Through Art and Nature

ART AND MATH SEMINAR:
Between Perception and Structure: Seeing Math Through Art and Nature
Speaker: Kevin Bernstein
Date:  November 20, 2025, noon-1pm (Topeka, Kansas time)

Abstract: When we look closely—at a leaf, light through water, or the surface of a painting—there is a sense of order that feels mathematical, even when we cannot describe it in numbers. While mathematics could explain that order, my way of knowing it comes through observation and making—through rhythm, symmetry, and the relationships that emerge in process. This talk reflects on how art and nature allow us to experience structure as something felt rather than solved.  Through my paintings and work with Nature Collab, I explore how curiosity becomes a bridge between creative and analytical ways of thinking—between what feels like math and what we call wonder. Mathematics here is not calculation; it is a way of noticing, a quiet conversation between perception and understanding.