For decades I have been fascinated with the primal feel of transformed images or metaforms. My first “Math Art” was created in 1980. An outline of a photograph of myself was placed on graph paper to assess the position of points on the outline. The x and y coordinates of critical points on the image were manually measured. A slide rule was then used to calculate the logarithm to the base 10 of the y coordinates. The x coordinate and the logarithm of the y coordinate were plotted to obtain a transformation of the original image. The outline of the image was then filled in with black Indian ink. 

A metaform or transform is an image, object, or form which has been in some way modified or transformed from the original. A circle modified to appear as an ellipse; a woman transformed into a bird. Shadows of images falling on oblique walls or curved walls are transformed and represent the earliest transforms. Other early transformations are images conceived and depicted on the walls of caves, rock outcrops, and other natural surfaces. They are collectively called rock art. Some images are painted on rock, and others, called petroglyphs, are carved, pecked, or scratched into the surface of the rock.