Mathemalchemy — Edmund Harriss

Professional wide-angle of the complete Mathemalchemy installation in a curved warm-wood-panelled venue, Lighthouse tower left, rainbow bead arc overhead, Integral Hill and large quilt panel right — Left: the complete Mathemalchemy installation at exhibition. Right: Conway's Curios shop and Bakery assembled in the workshop.

The assembled Curio Shop and Bakery structure on the workshop floor, the balcony wave-pattern railing, honeycomb and pentagon window cuts in the base walls, and the Bakery grid roof beams — Left: the complete Mathemalchemy installation at exhibition. Right: Conway's Curios shop and Bakery assembled in the workshop.

Mathemalchemy is a large-scale collaborative art installation: a richly detailed world initiated by mathematician Ingrid Daubechies and textile artist Dominique Ehrmann, and created by twenty-four mathematicians and artists working across the US and internationally during the COVID pandemic. Mathematics is embedded everywhere in the landscape, buildings, gardens and ocean of the scene.

Poster about Conway's Curios, a model shop full of interesting mathematical objects, such as a Mobius strip, and Alexander Horner sphere. — Conway's Curios Poster shown in (left) and the shop interior in exhibition with Harriet the shopkeeper (right).

Conway's Curios shop interior at the exhibition, Harriet the rabbit shopkeeper figure holding a book, the dark Mandelbrot oven door at left, Voronoi hexagonal window panels with dark blue fabric — Conway's Curios Poster shown in (left) and the shop interior in exhibition with Harriet the shopkeeper (right).

Very few parts of the full exhibit were solely authored by any of the artists, there was extensive discussion before fabrication, fabrication often involed several people, and then others were involved in the final installation into the whole exhibit.

Three collaborators painting the Bakery brick wall white at the Duke assembly week, a woman in a blue top, a man kneeling, and a woman in a pi t-shirt standing, the oven arch facade visible — Left: painting the Bakery facade at the Duke assembly week, July 2021. Right: Edmund Harriss with the complete installation at the 808 Gallery, Boston University, 2022.

Edmund Harriss smiling beside the Mathemalchemy installation at the 808 Gallery, Boston University, the Lighthouse tower lit behind him, Conway's Curios shop with Harriet visible, OctoPi mural and blue bead arc in the background — Left: painting the Bakery facade at the Duke assembly week, July 2021. Right: Edmund Harriss with the complete installation at the 808 Gallery, Boston University, 2022.

A lot of my work contributed around the bakery with at least 14 others, the initial design of the Lighthouse with 6 others and working with Dominque and Ingrid to fabricate the Sillouettes and Conway’s Curios with at least 11 others.

Conway’s Curios was named after John Conway, who passed away in April 2020, during the construction of Mathemalchemy. A poster was presented at his memorial in Princeton.

Voronoi hexagonal window panels, irregular pentagon cells cut from white-painted plywood with black acrylic mirror inserts, a gold reflection catching the light in one cell — Left: Voronoi hexagonal window panels, pentagon cells in white-painted plywood with mirror inserts. Right: the CNC milled brick facade with arched oven door opening, being clamped for gluing.

The Bakery's CNC milled brick facade clamped flat on the workshop bench, the arched oven door opening, individual brick tiles, and Celtic knot insert panel at the base — Left: Voronoi hexagonal window panels, pentagon cells in white-painted plywood with mirror inserts. Right: the CNC milled brick facade with arched oven door opening, being clamped for gluing.

After Duke, the installation premiered at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C. in January 2022 and has toured continuously: 808 Gallery at Boston University, MoMath in New York, UQAM in Montreal, the Navajo Nation, and Universum UNAM in Mexico City (2025–26), with a planned stop at the University of Arkansas in 2027. It was the subject of a feature by Siobhan Roberts in the New York Times in March 2025.

CNC router carving tall organic figure shapes on a full 4×4 plywood sheet, sea-creature and human figure outlines emerging, the router gantry visible — CNC-cut character figures: first passes on the router (left) and the finished flute-girl painted black, ready for installation (right).

The flute-girl figure fully painted black, laid flat on a table with an open paint can beside her, the elaborate CNC-carved flowing hair and full body now in matte black, ready for installation — CNC-cut character figures: first passes on the router (left) and the finished flute-girl painted black, ready for installation (right).

Coverage: The New York Times — A Mathematical ‘Fever Dream’ Hits the Road (2025) · MAA Focus — Mathemalchemy: A Playful Pandemic Project (2021)

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