This episode Megan & Milena cover 4th century Greek mathematician Hypatia & contemporary fiber sculptor Judith, known as Judy, Scott.

Hypatia of Alexandria

I make that face, too, when someone tells me they’re in love with me.

Just a little painting of Hypatia teaching in the streets of Alexandria. Hypatia Teaching at Alexandria, watercolour and brown ink on paper by Robert Trewick Bone; in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut.

Math stuff that Milena tries to explain to me despite the fact I forgot how to do long division a very long time ago.

Above pictured is what happens if you slice a cone in spots. They make two dimensional shapes. This finding lends itself to Geometry, calculus, and astronomy. A lot of these shapes are found in nature, specifically in space. Hypatia revamped the work of Apollonius of Perga and taught her students using the literature she wrote.

A astrolabe. Never in a million years would I be able to figure out how to use this – thank god I’ve got Milena to explain it

Hypatia also used her knowledge, not just for academic applications, but for practical purposes as well. She designed multiple useful apparatuses, such as the astrolabe. The plane astrolabe was used for measuring the positions of stars, planets and the sun, and to calculate time and the ascendant sign of the zodiac.

The part where….well….let’s just say this is definitely the censored version; it was obviously a lot more gruesome than that.

Judy Scott

            Judy is a

woman that shows up from a cross-country flight with a bowling ball in her

carry on. The way she goes about things might be a little different, but those

differences in life is what earned her international recognition for her art. Unfortunately

the path leading to that international acclaim involves 35 years of

institutionalization, societal rejection of those with Down syndrome and one

asshole dentist who we hope rots in hell.

            That aside, once sparked

Judy’s creative passion could not be stifled. In her 18 years of studio

practice Judy expressed her personal narrative though mixed media fiber

sculptures. This episode we learn how she came about sculpting, who facilitated

her art making, and how even a earthquake can’t keep her from creating.

Selected Work

The piece that made her sister Joyce cry – seeing this she knew her sister was using sculpture to express what she’d been unable to vocalize

One of my favorite works from Judy – I love the change in color and line weight in the dead center

Also one of my favorite pieces from Judy – color is great, great vertical line work but most of all, what’s in it??

This is the piece that happened when Judy ran out of fiber and had to get resourceful – thank god for industrial sized rolls of paper towels

Look at the colors! There’s a great ombre effect happening in the left to center area. Also one of my favorite pieces. I tend to have a lot.

Went through some rough spots but we finally got that happy ending

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