Artist Statement
Embracing collective creativity, Diane gravitates towards team projects where diverse talents merge to produce unique and impactful artistic expressions. In pursuit of collectivity, much of her work includes the process of working with creative leadership and creating opportunities for inclusivity within the larger art building process to open up a process of shared purpose.
Within the parameters of reflection, symmetries, and rigid polyhedra, Diane employs dichroism and a LED color spectrum to create a mood through motion unfolding over time. These elements endeavor to communicate her profound love for the beauty inherent in mathematics.
Artist Bio
Evolving through roles helping to optimize communication schedules for NASA’s Mars rovers and contributing to a new computer language at Belcore, she now channels this expertise into programming controllers for LED lighting animations. These animations both enrich the sculptures visually, by highlighting the shape and adding to its nighttime presence, and communicate and deepen their meaning, creating a seamless integration of technology and art.
Diane is profoundly committed to collaboration with other artists and the larger volunteer community. Drawn to the beauty and scope achievable through collective efforts, she co-founded the art collective ArtBuilds in 2019, with whom she now creates most of her sculptural pieces. Her dedication to fostering artistic collaboration extends to her roles as a Director, Electronics Lab Lead, and Education Lead at San Diego CoLab.
Lately, Diane splits her time between creating art pieces exploring the interplay of light and shadow called Penumbra, seeking permanent placement for Unfolding Humanity, and serving as Professor in the area of topology and geometry and Chair of the Mathematics Department at the University of San Diego.
Education
PhD Mathematics, University of California Santa Barbara
MS Mathematics, University of California Santa Barbara
BS Mathematics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Appointments
Professor of Mathematics, University of San Diego
Associate Professor of Math and Computer Science, University of San Diego
Assistant Professor of Math and Computer Science, University of San Diego
NASA Summer Faculty Fellow, Mars Rover Communications, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
G.C. Evans Instructor, Mathematics, Rice University
Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, Colorado College
Teaching Associate/Assistant, Mathematics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Member of Technical Staff, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Communications Research Division, Bellcore (Bell Labs)
Visiting Researcher, Geometry Supercomputer Project in Minneapolis
Summer Program Instructor and Teaching Assistant, Virginia Tech
Selected Art Grants, Honors, and Awards
Escondido Community Foundation Art Speaks Initiative, Threshold Five, 2024
Burning Man Honorarium Penumbra, 2024
Chasing Wonder Art Grant Bubble Lamp and MidCentury Lamp, 2023
Burning Man Honorarium Unfolding Humanity Renaissance, 2023
City of San Diego’s Park Social Initiative Art Grant Reflexion, 2022
Spotlight Article in STEAM Journal our article on About Time, 2019
San Diego Collaborative Arts Project Art Grant Halo, 2019
Cover Story for Notices of the American Mathematical Society with 30k readership Unfolding Humanity, 2019
Maker of Merit at San Diego Maker Faire Unfolding Humanity, 2018
San Diego Collaborative Arts Project Art Grant Unfolding Humanity, 2018
USD’s FIRSt Humanities Grant Unfolding Humanity, 2018
Burning Man’s Desert Arts Preview Invited to showcase Unfolding Humanity, 2018
Interviews
Math as Art, Joy and Discovery: One Professor’s Love for a Profession that Began During a Car Ride, At the Edge of it All Podcast, December 18, 2024
Faculty Spotlight: Adding Art to the Equation with Diane Hoffoss, USD News Center, December 6, 2024
Connective Creativity: What Art Can Teach Us About Collaboration, Interviewed Artist for Book, 2024
San Diego Group Behind Burning Man Art Shares Experience, CBS 8 Interview, September 5, 2023
U of San Diego Math Professor is Brian Behind Sculpture Featured At Burning Man, NBC 7 Interview, August 25, 2023
It’s Beautiful, Interviewed for Documentary, 2020
Professors Taught New Astronauts During Time at the University of San Diego, KUSI News San Diego Interview, January 13, 2020
NASA names team to train for moon-landing, 4 astronauts have San Diego ties, CBS8 News San Diego Interview, December 10, 2020
Diane Hoffoss: Professor and Researcher in Topology, Interviews With Women In STEM Podcast, September 8, 2020
Unfolding Humanity, Burner Podcast Episode 97, April 3, 2019
Burning Man Pre-playa Planner, Burner Podcast Episode 87, August 17, 2018
USD Group Creates Burning Man Festival Installation, NBC San Diego News Interview, August 14, 2018
Diane’s Story of Lights, The Journey Project Fundraising Video Series, August 2017
Talks About Beauty and Art
Natural Landscapes and Human Meaning
Special Series on The Desert: Humanistic and Scientific Reflections
USD Humanities Center, 2023
The Idea of Beauty Series: Mathematics and the Natural Sciences
USD Humanities Center, 2018
Public Lectures About Art Installations
Joint AMS / MAA Meetings Special Session on Mathematics and the Arts, 2024
Unfolding Humanity: Return to Burning Man
Mesa College Art and Technology Lecture Series, 2022
Building Big Art (with Gordon Hoople and Nate Parde)
Wellesley College Public Lecture, 2020
Unfolding Humanity: Mathematics at Burning Man
Babu Banarasi Das University, India, Popular Mathematics Lecture Series, 2020
Unfolding Humanity: Mathematics at Burning Man
University of Virginia Public Lecture, 2019
Unfolding Humanity: Mathematics at Burning Man
College of Staten Island CUNY Public Lecture, 2019
Unfolding Humanity: Mathematics at Burning Man
University of Maryland Baltimore Campus Public Lecture, 2019
Unfolding Humanity: Mathematics at Burning Man
Joint AMS / MAA Meetings Special Session on Mathematics and the Arts, 2019
Unfolding Humanity: Burning Man Mathematics (with S. Devadoss)
Articles Written About Art Installations

At the Intersection of Mathematics, Art and Religious Studies: Unfolding
With S. Babka and S. Devadoss
Preprint (2020)

Makerspaces on the Continuum: Examining Undergraduate Student Learning in Formal and Informal Settings
With Gordon Hoople, Alex Mejia, and Satyan Devadoss
International Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 36, No. 4 (2020) 1184–1195

About Time: Visualizing Time at Burning Man
The STEAM Journal, Volume 4, Issue 1 (2019)

Unfolding Humanity: Mathematics at Burning Man
Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 66 (2019) 572–575