Jennifer Padilla

I am an artist in Altadena, California, USA, with a background in biochemistry research. I always viewed my scientific research as being aesthetically driven. I have a Ph.D in biochemistry and a master’s degree in mathematics. I conducted graduate research on designing symmetric protein assemblies and postdoctoral work on dynamic synthetic nucleic acid devices.

Though many in the world of academic science share my aesthetic motive, I personally met with a lot of resistance in regards to my own work. That experience, combined with a growing public sentiment against science in the United States, motivated me to create math and science-themed art. I learned calligraphy to develop a modern-day illuminated manuscripts theme in my fine art. I also ran with the theme of tile design, integrating Islamic geometric motifs into tilings such as the Penrose tiling and other algorithmic aperiodic tilings. I found connections with geometric construction, the genetic code, and other mathematical concepts.

Recent projects include papers on how to unite Islamic geometric motifs with the framework of certain aperiodic tilings. I presented this work along with artwork of related themes at the 2022 and 2023 Bridges math art conferences, and the 2023 Hatfest conference in Oxford.

Illuminated manuscripts are front and center in my current work, as I develop a hybrid approach combining hand-calligraphed, illuminated pages with printed pages typeset using fonts created from my own calligraphy.