Aalto students' art and science work Mama depicts the often invisible roles of mothers and women

‘When we took a gallery tour as an exercise for this piece, I remember seeing a portrait of an artist and her mother. They were surrounded by nothing but needles. I think that motherhood and relationships with our families hurt people in some way, stay with them and are carried by them’, says design student Zofia Alka, adding that Mama, as a structure representing femininity, is supposed to take up space and be unsettling.

Mama shows how versatile the role of women is in math and sciences. The piece looks different from every angle.

‘The inside of Mama is red and the outside is white. Although Mama is really simple, it conveys what we wanted to express very well,' says an architecture student Qiong Wu.

Mama highlights the different ways women contribute in math; as figurative 'mothers' of groundbreaking research discoveries, as mothers of scientists, and as parents who inspire curious kids.

‘But just as the piece disappears when viewed directly from the front, these roles are often invisible or ignored’, says Tino Poutiainen, a student in information networks.

Towards balance

Mathematically, Mama is based on a curve-shaped catenary. The group’s work was influenced by Gaudí who also used catenary in his design for the Sagrada Familia.

‘Women are traditionally left out in math. In a catenary, all forces are in balance, and we must strive for a situation where the roles of men and women are also in balance’, says math student Elmo Päällysaho.

The four team members have different backgrounds, and during the course they ended up comparing their cultures.

‘Since childhood, the most important female figure for all of us has been our mother. I feel that in the end there were five members in our group – one of them was the mother’, Wu says.

The name of the exhibition, FIBRATIONS, refers to the order, formation, or structure of fibers in mathematics, particularly in algebraic topology.

‘Mama literally consists of fibres hanging side by side’, says Alka.
 

Although the concept itself was simple, many decisions had to be made along the way, such as the combination of materials and colors and the distance between the fibers.

‘Cutting the material turned out to be a surprising amount of work’, says Poutiainen.

At the same time as the FIBRATIONS exhibition, Heureka is also organising a braille exhibition. For this reason, in addition to the giant Mama hanging from the ceiling of Heureka, there is also a miniature Mama on the table.

‘You can touch the model, but not the actual work. Mama's gonna be angry if you try to touch her’’, says Päällysaho.

The FIBRATIONS exhibition at Heureka between 10 June – 31 August 2025 showcases student works from the Aalto University interdisciplinary course ‘Crystal Flowers in Halls of Mirrors: Mathematics Meets Art and Architecture’. Other students exhibiting their work are Ilona Koivisto, Pinja Kvintus, Onni Tikka, Aarni Markkanen, Ilona Taittonen, Natasha Yiu Lok Man, Rokas Garšva, Yunseon Lee, Claudia Muscalu, Yiyou Wu, Katarina, Culina, Hiromi Nakamura, Olivia Palmu, Aleksi Turpeinen, Daniela Ala-Keturi, Om Gupta, Pham Quang Bach and Ville Lumme – and they come from all six schools.