Frank A. Farris

Since 2018, I have served as Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Santa Clara University, where I have taught since 1984. I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree at Pomona College and continued to earn a PhD in Mathematics at MIT in 1981. My first position was as Tamarkin Assistant Professor at Brown University.

Originally trained in differential geometry, I have moved into the field of mathematical art, writing about and creating digital and 3D-printed artworks that leverage the power of mathematical analysis, particularly Fourier series. It really is all about waves!

From 2001--2005 and again in 2009, I served as Editor of Mathematics Magazine This work led me to long service on the Council of Publications and Communications at the Mathematical Association of America, which remains my primary professional society.

This site replaces one that I have maintained since about 1993. My university decommisioned our mathematics server, so I was forced to give up the quaint, primitive HTML code, which I edited myself until about 2020. I am happy to learn that DreamWeaver allows me to share my materials much more easily. I hope you enjoy the site!

For those who like that sort of thing, here is my CV. For the more interesting stuff, please click on the images below.

My most recent work

Rhythms of the Land: Spring

Pomona College commissioned an installation of three large fabric banners, which went up on August 12, 2022. Thanks to Ami Radunskaya for her help with this.

Creating Symmetry

Everything about my book

Publishedin 2015 by Princeton University Press, this book is a love song to linear analysis and its potential for creating new works of mathematical art.

A fanciful scene with a donut whose pattern matches the wallpaper

SymmetryScapes exhibitions

Read about my various academic art shows

The pattern on this donut matches the wallpaper in the room where it sits on a table. That wallpaper is made from the photograph of cherries hanging on the wall.

This is just one example of the work that I called "Imaginary Landscapes," scenes that suggest an intersection between our everyday spaces and the ideal world of mathematics.

A sphere that appears to be constructed from chain mail

Projects involving 3D art

Virtual and actual

Before I attended the "Illustrating Mathematics" workshop at ICERM, most of my work lived in two dimensions. In 2019, I popped up into three!