Carina
Nebula
by Hilary
Zelson (2012).
Mixed media
on canvas.
Photo credit:
Danielle
Kalamaras.
“One cannot be but overwhelmed by a
profound sense of wonder and amazement
when pondering the cosmos,” Goods writes
in his juror statement. The confounding
scale of space continues to captivate human
imaginations, he writes, even with scientific
progress. In contrast to artists from the
past who relied on maps and experiments to
render space in scientific exactitude, Goods
writes, “today, many artists are going beyond
representing ‘reality’ with photorealistic
imagery. As seen from this exhibition, they are
creating imagery and experiences that convey
unique insights that deepen our knowledge of
the cosmos and our place in it.”
mimic how the stars glow in far away nebulae.
Jesse Ng’s Cube (Tight Expansion) is a painterly
interpretation of a scientific illustration
used in laboratory reports. Visual aids in
science are attempts to contain and analyze
the world through diagrams and hard-edged
geometric shapes. We rely on these diagrams
and infographics to visualize streams of data
and to demystify scientific jargon. Ng’s Cube
(Tight Expansion) is a “diagram” solidifying
the ethereal elements of space, and her cube
represents the “cosmos” as becomes a specimen
of observation.
The stars lead way to the planets that
dapple our solar system. Satellites today have
“The artists in this year’s competition go
reached as far as Mars, taking photographs
deeper,” Miller concurs in his statement, “trying and collecting data of its otherworldly terrain.
to produce visual representations that evoke the Cassandra Hanks goes even deeper into the
frightening grandeur and poetry behind these
universe in her digital photograph Jupiter’s
awesome objects.”
Geysers of Light. From data collected by probes,
NASA and chemists have concluded that
The stars are a gateway to the cosmos. Hilary Jupiter’s landscapes are comprised of metallic
Zelson’s painting Carina Nebula uses glitter to
hydrogen among other materials. Hanks studied
SciArt in America February 2014
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