The colorful photography seen here looks abstract, yet it’s also realistic. “Light Angel” is sunlight shining on diffraction grating paper to produce beautiful spectral line patterns and accompanies current research; “Magentropy” is an edited close-up of cracking paint. While for many paintings the cracking effect would be considered degradation or breakdown that art restoration attempts to avoid, some works use this as an intentional patterning technique called “craquelure,” or “crazing” in ceramics.
Looking closely at “Light Angel,” my fingerprints are also visible on the paper, which is especially fitting because spectral ‘fingerprints’ of light can be used to identify atoms and molecules, by distribution of wavelengths. In this case, the broad light source is the sun and you can see another unedited linear holographic diffraction pattern below.
The title “Magentropy” refers to the color magenta and entropy, commonly thought of as randomness or disorder, or the second law of thermodynamics, that entropy increases with time when thermal energy isn’t converted into mechanical work. However, there are patterns and commonality to the randomness, like the networking cracking of paint, to flow of liquids, fractals and more. And that law of thermodynamics refers to ‘closed systems,’ yet all systems are connected with environment.
There is much more to explore of the dynamic patterns of nature. In this piece, entropy is interpreted as a beautiful means of transformation and networking, growth and communication. On the OCTAVES Music label too, there is an accompanying movement of the recent tech opera that explores this (see below).
Diffraction grating, mentioned before, is also used in electronics fabrication. And fabrication, and creation / re-creation is the subject of large mixed painting “fabricate::recreate” made of from terraced canvas, upcycled/recycled fabrics, acrylics and waterbased spray paint, and mica. This piece was definitely influenced by a friend who works in materials science, and attending seminars at MIT Nano. The overall effect was created from layering, mimicking chemical deposition, and the combined primitive look mirrors raw materials, cosmic or earthly, or materials under a microscope — they seem to be disorderly, yet there are patterns and motifs upon closer examination and consideration.
The abstract realism of nature is a recurring theme in my conceptual photography, in which it is quite clear where abstract arm forms originate, from clouds above to the shapes of rocks, to the intricate world of cells.
It’s interesting to juxtapose developments in art with broadening vision in science, such as both microscopy and abstract art becoming much more commonplace in the early and mid 20th century.