Diarra Bousso Gueye
Diarra Bousso Gueye is a high school mathematics teacher and clothing designer from Senegal who uses mathematical equations and transformations to design beautiful textiles and brings this work back to her classroom to share with students. Bousso invites her students to explore the art that can be created from mathematics, the shapes of functions, and the beautiful designs that can be created from their translations. Diarra Bousso evolved from being a math nerd to Wall Street bond trader to creative math teacher and fashion designer.
The Joal print is named after an iconic coastal town in Senegal called Joal Fadiouth.
The fulcrum of Bousso’s story is a life-threatening accident in 2012 when she was 23years old that left her paralysed and with no memory. A psychologist recommended writing and drawing in a journal to help her remember what had happened the previous day. Bousso’s mother was terrified that if Bousso started remembering Wall Street, she would fall back into depression. So she concocted a plan. She hung up Bousso’s childhood paintings on the white walls of the hospital room and told her daughter a story she believed would motivate her to recover: She was a successful artist, and when she could walk again, there would be a grand exhibition of her work. She later discovered that to be false and eventually turned it into reality.
Math equations were digitally generated and graphed to create the seashell shapes on the Joal print, Gueye says.
She currently teaches high school math in Northern California where she’s showing kids that math is more than boring, abstract concepts by joining it with art.
“For me, it’s not about money or success,” Bousso said. “It’s about survival. It’s what made me survive a very tragic thing.”
Well done Diarra Bousso!
Culled from Forbes
