Step into the world of Michael Schultheis, and you quickly realize you’re not just looking at paintings, you are entering a language. One where equations breathe, geometry feels intimate, and mathematics becomes a powerful tool for storytelling. His signature style, Analytical Expressionism, doesn’t simply merge math and art, it transforms how we understand both.
For Schultheis, the journey began with a moment that changed everything. “My earliest inspiration came from the experience of watching a gifted graduate school professor treat mathematics as a kind of visual theater, filling and erasing a chalkboard until a proof revealed its elegance,” he shares. “In that moment, I began to see equations not as static symbols, but as expressive gestures—calligraphic marks that carried both logic and beauty.”
That shift unlocked something deeper. “Over time, I realized that mathematics could function like poetry,” he says, “naming things precisely while also opening space for metaphor and narrative.” What followed was a complete redefinition of math itself: “It was then that math transformed for me—from a technical discipline into a language capable of conveying memory, emotion, and human connection.”
This philosophy comes alive in every piece he creates. His canvas becomes a kind of evolving chalkboard—layered, erased, rebuilt. “When I begin a new piece, I start by physically and conceptually grounding myself with the chalkboard tray—a gesture that recalls the classroom and invites me into a space of inquiry.,” he explains. “Gradually filling the canvas with equations, erasures, and visualizing what the topic looks like to me.”
From there, something immersive begins to take shape. “I construct a geometric environment, , often beginning with the sphere and oculus, which transforms the flat surface into a dioramic pictorial space I can mentally enter – like stepping into the middle of the Pantheon and playing with the equations and drawings all around me – resembling the fully immersive StarTrek Holodeck.” It’s not just a painting, it’s a space you can mentally walk through. “What emerges is a ‘mindscape,’ where analytical rigor and emotional resonance evolve together into a unified visual story.”
That story often centers on something deeply human: relationships. Schultheis uses geometry not as decoration, but as metaphor. “I am fascinated by geometry as a model for human connection because it allows me to visualize relationships in a precise yet poetic way.”
He describes overlapping forms like lovers’ lives intertwining. “When two lovers overlap their rings, we immediately recognize the shared space of their lives—much like the intersecting forms of a Venn diagram. Forms like the limaçon, with its interior and exterior loops, provide a powerful metaphor for the private and public dimensions of the self. When two of these curves overlap, they create what I call the Pythagorean Lens—a shared space that represents mutual understanding and emotional resonance. Geometry offers a way to map how people find each other, overlap, separate, and continue orbiting together over time. In this sense, mathematical forms become living diagrams of intimacy, consciousness, and love.”
That ability to translate abstract ideas into lived experience takes on even more depth in his exhibitions, including his work at the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath). “Exhibiting at the National Museum of Mathematics creates a uniquely resonant context for my work,” he says. “Viewers arrive already primed to engage with mathematical ideas.”
But what matters most to him is what happens next. “The equations and geometric forms in my paintings are not foreign—they are invitations to deeper exploration.” His goal is clear: “to expand visitors’ expectations of what mathematics can be, shifting it from abstraction into lived, emotional experience. The museum becomes a bridge between disciplines, where analytical thinking and artistic perception meet. It allows my work to function both as art and as an extension of mathematical inquiry. Cy Twombly, Joseph Beuys, and Hilma af Klint all incorporated mathematical notation into their work; I extend that lineage by using mathematics as a language to tell stories about the human condition.”
What makes Schultheis’ work especially compelling, and sought after by collectors, is its ability to speak across worlds. “Showing my work in universities, scientific institutions, and museums has profoundly shaped how it is interpreted, often depending on the audience’s familiarity with mathematical language. In academic settings, viewers may engage deeply with the equations themselves,” he explains. “In more general museum contexts, people tend to connect first with the visual and emotional aspects, discovering the mathematics more intuitively.” That duality is the power of Analytical Expressionism: “the same work can speak differently, yet meaningfully, to diverse audiences.”
Some of his most powerful pieces come directly from lived experience. One painting, in particular, stands as a defining moment in his career. “One of my most meaningful works is the painting inspired by the experience of saving a man’s life while he suffered a heart attack during a run around Green Lake,” he shares. “In that moment, I visualized breath through the geometry of spherical trigonometry imagining the expansion of arcs like sails filling with wind. That experience became the foundation for a composition centered on respiration, connection, and the exchange of life itself.”
That intersection of thought and action became something profound. “The painting tells a story of how abstract mathematical insight can intersect with immediate human action,” he says. “It represents the point where my intellectual framework and lived experience became inseparable.”
And yet, despite the intellectual depth, his work never feels inaccessible. In fact, he actively resists that barrier. “For younger visitors or those who may feel intimidated by math, I hope my work offers a sense of openness and play rather than difficulty or exclusion.”
He wants curiosity to lead. “The visual richness and movement can be appreciated immediately…from there, curiosity can take over.” His ultimate message is simple but powerful: “Mathematics is not a barrier, but a language that can describe their own lives and relationships.”
That philosophy reaches its peak in works like Water Lilies of Archimedes, a monumental 36-foot painting that reimagines calculus as a human story. “I began to see calculus not just as a mathematical framework, but as a reflection of how we experience life itself,” he explains. “In constructing the painting, I translated six foundational ideas of calculus through the visual language of six artists: Wayne Thiebaud’s pies as infinitesimals, Damien Hirst’s dots as exponentials, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s crowns as min–max optimization, Piero della Francesca’s perspective as limits, Agnes Martin’s grids as derivatives, and Sol LeWitt’s cubes as integrals.”
“Each concept—whether accumulation, change, boundary, or optimization—mirrored the ways we navigate relationships, memory, and time. The unexpected insight was that these abstract mathematical principles revealed a deeply human narrative about becoming, where our lives are shaped by both infinitesimal moments and the larger structures they create. What started as a visual exploration of calculus ultimately became a meditation on how we integrate experience into meaning, showing that the human condition itself unfolds through these same underlying principles. And this painting is 36 feet long!”
Even the materials carry meaning. Schultheis uses pigments like vermillion, ochre, and lapis lazuli, connecting his work to ancient traditions. Hidden within the compositions are real dates, “birthdays, anniversaries, and personal milestones—encoded into geometric systems.” His work doesn’t just depict life; it contains it.
For collectors, this is where the magic lies. A Michael Schultheis piece isn’t just visually striking, it’s layered with meaning, story, and intellectual depth. It evolves the longer you live with it. The equations reveal themselves slowly. The geometry shifts. The narrative deepens.
And that’s exactly how he intends it. “When viewers encounter my work, I hope their first experience is one of visual movement and curiosity—a sense of being drawn into a dynamic, layered space. From there, I want them to feel the emotional undercurrent embedded within the geometry, even if they do not immediately recognize the mathematics,” he says. “Ideally, the equations reveal themselves gradually, offering deeper meaning as viewers spend more time with the piece.”
In a world saturated with surface-level imagery, Schultheis offers something rare: art that thinks, feels, and grows with you. Work that invites you not just to look but to explore, question, and connect.
Because in the end, his message is clear. Math isn’t just something to solve. It’s something to feel. And through Analytical Expressionism, Michael Schultheis has turned it into something you can truly live with, on your walls, and in your mind, every single day.
