I talked to Jennifer Morley while participating in Scribble (a mini-Scrawl) at the Columbus Arts Festival 20223.

Tell me about your art journey?

I have synesthesia which means my senses are all tangled up. For example, when I listen to music I experience sound as color, shape and texture. I was trying to show people what a song looks like. I sketched it out with paint. They wanted to keep it. That inspired me to keep painting. I originally started painting music; but, I have branched out from there. A lot of my work is abstract and colorful. I have a studio in Franklinton. The Scribble event raises money for the Franklinton Arts district.

Is there anything that I didn’t ask you that you think I should have asked you? If so, go ahead and answer that question.

This is our first year with the Scribble Festival. It is part of the Scrawl Arts Festival. It used to be called Urban Scrawl. All of these canvasses are donated to the district. They are auctioned off. All that money goes back into the district. The patrons at the art festival can vote on their favorites. The winner gets an automatic spot in the next festival.

Are there going to be more Scribble events that are part of other festivals?

Yes. There is one in a couple of weeks at Gravity for the Gravity Mural festival. We are still doing the big Scrawl event in October.

Tell me about the shape in your piece.

I utilized a new shape that was recently mathematically discovered. The name of it is called the “Hat”. It is an aperiodic monotile. That means the pattern never repeats but it is able to tile a plain using only itself.  It is controversial because you have to mirror the shape sometimes. In the math community, everyone is excited about it. There is a type of tiling called Penrose tiling which has two different shapes that has been around for a while. Mathematicians have been trying to find a pattern where they only need one shape. They were able to prove that earlier this year. In the mathematical paper, they talked about practical applications. They mentioned art. So, I decided to do it. The comparison to community was there for me. We have the singular shape, just like the singular human being. We all have to work together in different orientations to cooperate as a community. Even though we are all the same as humans, we all have our place in time and space. Just like this shape never repeats a pattern, it has its own unique spot in the grid.