Katherine Seaton

Contest entry

Title: Corner Percolation

Corner percolation is a mathematical constrained random walk model proposed by Bálint Tóth and investigated by Gábor Pete in 2008. More recently, it has been noted that the configurations of paths and closed loops arising in corner percolation are found in the centuries-old domestic stitching form hitomezashi. Whether right-angled corners are placed on the vertices of a square lattice in the mind of a twenty-first century mathematician, or lines of horizontal and vertical running stitches interact tangibly when sewn with a needle as in Edo-period Japan, the potential patterns are the same. Traditionally, lines of stitching in hitomezashi are deliberately aligned or offset from their neighbours to create designs featuring small motifs repeated periodically. However, in this piece of mathematical fibre art the parity of the digits of pi has been used to place the lines of stitching in a random configuration. The result is a design comprised of closed loops of various sizes as well as some paths of stitches that begin and end on an edge of the worked area. One such path has been highlighted for the eye in scarletwork. 

Artist biography

Katherine Seaton is a retired university lecturer in mathematics who has made things with fibre since she was a child. Her initial research area was statistical mechanics, in particular exactly solvable lattice models. She has been exploring the mathematical affordances of the traditional Japanese embroidery form hitomezashi both practically and in writing since 2019.