Math is often found in art, but many mathematicians feel the math itself is art, that the formulas are elegant and the graphs are beautiful. “You find these problems to work on and they become fascinating,” Johnson said. “You want to solve the problems for their own sake and so you can share it with your colleagues.”

Mathematics as an expression of the human mind reflects the active will, the contemplative reason, and the desire for aesthetic perfection. Its basic elements are logic and intuition, analysis and construction, generality and individuality.
— Richard Courant, German-American mathematician