Professional Experience
- Associate Chair (Undergraduate), Department of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (2010 – present)
- Professor, Department of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (2008 – present)
- Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (2002 – 2008)
- Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (1998 – 2002)
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Mathematical Research Branch, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (1995 – 1998)
Education
- Ph.D. (Mathematics), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 1995
- B.Math., University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, 1989
Artist Statement
I'm an applied mathematician, specializing in mathematical biology. I'm interested in understanding and explaining physiological processes through the development and analysis of mathematical models. I’m also a self-taught quilt artist. My quilts often are based on abstract geometric designs; they seldom are created for the purpose of conveying a particular mathematical concept, but instead reflect a structured approach to design, and are the brainchild of someone who has little choice but to think mathematically.
Honours
- Sharp
1, Sharp 2, and Sharp 3 (2009)
- First Place in category "The Power or Shape and Line" in Quilted Expressions, Edmonton & District Quilters' Guild show (2011)
- Third Place at the Great Canadian Quilt & Fibre Arts Challenge, Edmonton, AB (2009)
- Blur
1 and Blur 2 (2006)
- Juried into the Alberta Invitational Show that was exhibited at the Waterloo County Quilt Festival, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON (2006)
- Free Hand
(2006)
- Honourable Mention for Experimental Design in the TrendTex Quilters’ Challenge of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (2006)
- Flotations
(2006)
- Second Place in the Focus on Fibre Art Association’s Juried Competition and Fibre Art Exhibition, Edmonton, AB (2006)
- Cyclic
Permutations (2005)
- Juried into exhibition at the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest of the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters, Seattle, WA (2006)
- Juried into exhibition at the National Juried Show of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (2006)
- Juried into exhibition at Renaissance Banff, Banff, AB (2005)
- First Prize at the Great Canadian Quilt Challenge, Edmonton, AB (2005)
- Prairie
Harvest (2004)
- Judge’s Choice Award in the TrendTex Quilters’ Challenge of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (2004)
- Rood
Wit Blauw (2004)
- First Place in the Edmonton & District Quilters’ Guild show (2004)
- Die
Aktentasche (2003)
- Invitational exhibit at the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest of the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters, Seattle, WA (2003)
- Time
Flies When You’re Having Fun (2003)
- Honourable Mention in the TrendTex Quilters’ Challenge of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (2003)
- Collaborama
(2003)
- First Prize at the Great Canadian Quilt Challenge, Edmonton, AB (2003)
- Sierpinski
Meets Mondrian (2002)
- Juried into exhibition at Renaissance Banff, Banff, AB (2005)
- First Prize and Judge’s Choice Award in the Edmonton & District Quilters’ Guild challenge (2002)
- folii
trendtexilium (2002)
- Honourable Mention in the TrendTex Quilters’ Challenge of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (2002)
- Fibrations
(2002)
- Juried into exhibition at Renaissance Banff, Banff, AB (2005)
- Juried into the World Quilt Competition (2004), which included the World Quilt Shows in Grand Rapids, MI, and Manchester, NH, the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, Fort Washington, PA, and the Pacific International Quilt Festival, Santa Clara, CA
- Exhibited at the invitational show World Piece Quilts from Near and Far, Waterloo, ON (2003)
- Juried into exhibition at the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest of the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters, Seattle, WA (2002)
- Selected for the cover of the show catalogue for the National Juried Show of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (2002)
- Judges’ Honourable Mention for Use of Colour at the National Juried Show of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (2002)
- First Prize and Best of Canada Prize in the Great Canadian Quilt Challenge, Edmonton, AB (2002)
- In
the Line of Fire (2000)
- Viewers’ Choice, Edmonton & District Quilters’ Guild spring retreat challenge (2000)
- Bubb’Illusion
(1999)
- Juried into exhibition at Renaissance Banff, Banff, AB (2005)
Presentations
- Making
Mathematics with Needle and Thread: Quilts as Mathematical Objects
- Presentation for the Sherwood Park Quilt Guild (The Cabin Quilters), Sherwood Park, AB, 2012
- Noon-Hour Speaker, Edmonton Lifelong Learners Association, Edmonton, AB, 2012
- Presentation for the Edmonton & District Quilters' Guild, Edmonton, AB, 2012
- Public Lecture at the Canadian Mathematical Society Summer Meeting, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, 2011
- Presentation for the Edmonton & District Quilters’ Guild, Edmonton, AB, 2011
- Public Lecture at McGill University, sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada, Montreal, QC, 2009
- Keynote Presentation at the Conference of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers Association, Edmonton, AB, 2009
- Public Lecture at the MITACS Annual Conference, Fredericton, NB, 2009
Publications
- G. de Vries, Textiles - Math = 0, Textiles + Math = Infinity: Mathematical approaches in quilt design, in Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America, Textile Society of America, Earleville, MD, 2007, pp. 228-234.
- Cyclic
Permutations (2005)
- Robert W. Fathauer, A survey of recent mathematical art exhibitions, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 1 (2007), pp. 181-190.
- Doris Schattschneider, Math and art in the mountains, The Mathematical Intelligencer, 28 (2006), pp. 31-37.
- Reza Sarhangi, Mathematical connections in art, Pi in the Sky, Issue 9 (December 2005), pp. 9-13.
- Reza Sarhangi, Renaissance Banff: Bridges conference & Coxeter day, Newsletter of the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, Issue 9 (Fall 2005), p. 22.
- Sierpinski
Meets Mondrian (2002, 2010)
- Long Range Plan Steering Committee for the Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Solutions for a Complex Age: Long Range Plan for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Research in Canada 2013-2018, Ottawa, Canada (2013).
- Phillip Kent (editor), Bridges Images: Connections of Mathematics and Art, a souvenir booklet for the 2006 Bridges Conference, University of London Institute of Education (2006).
- Bubb’Illusion
(1999)
- Doris Schattschneider, Math and art in the mountains, The Mathematical Intelligencer, 28 (2006), pp. 31-37.
Teaching Experience
- Square Dance, a 1-day workshop for the Edmonton & District Quilters’ Guild, 2001 (based on the book Square Dance: Fancy Quilts from Plain Squares, by Martha Thompson, Martingale and Company, 1995)
- Workshops in schools and science clubs on connections between mathematics and art, 1990 – present
Service
- Edmonton
& District Quilters’ Guild
- Past-President (2011 – 2013)
- President (2009 – 2011)
- Chair of the program committee (2001 – 2003)
- Member of the program committee (1999 – 2001)
Memberships
- Canadian Quilters’ Association
- Edmonton & District Quilters’ Guild