The Art: Concept and Inspiration
These small mosaic art works were created of stained glass and natural stone by the artist to serve as a wall or desktop feature for viewing both in daylight and at night. The pieces emphasize light, color, form and texture, which change from the observer’s viewpoint and thus how light is reflected, how the works’ illumination features are manipulated, and time of day of viewing. The intimate scale, materials and fine detail of this unique and original art was inspired by Persian/Mughal miniature painting and medieval illuminated manuscripts. What better way to render the beauty and wonder of the surreal images from NASA’s Hubble and Webb space telescopes.
Illumination and Atmosphere
Each shadow box upon which the mosaic is arranged is illuminated from within by small light sources for which a remote controller changes light color, intensity and pattern. In a darkened room they take on a different character in contrast to natural sunlight. This luminance feature makes the pieces a beautiful night lite in a baby nursery or other space.
Light-Interactive Glass and Precious Elements
The stained glass is iridescent, a natural phenomenon of certain materials in which light waves interfere and combine with one another. Think of peacock feathers! The practical result is that the colors shift depending on how natural light hits the surface of the material and thus the glass colors change with the viewing position.
Many pieces contain semi-precious gemstones such as Garnet, Carnelian, Quartz and Labradorite. The latter is used on account of its beautiful translucent and reflective Schiller effect when stuck by light. Upon request, precious gemstones including raw rubies, emeralds and sapphires can be added to a work. Areas of the “canvas” in some pieces use stone dust ground from a mix of various rock to achieve a color palette evocative of sand painting. Other stones are featured in works both due to their age and unique providence. These include “Savoy” and “Dry Hill” gneiss, and Goshen and Ashfield schist collected by the artist in the Berkshire mountains in Western Massachusetts and then hand-crushed using a mortar and pestle. Both crushed rock and stone sand/dust are used in the works.
Black iridescent stained glass, blue, yellow and red crushed stained glass, garnet, carnelian and Dry Hill gneiss with two lights
Ancient Stones: A Touch of Geo-History
Savoy Gneiss is dated at a bit over a billion years in age and thus is among the oldest rock found on the surface of the North American continent. Dry Hill Gneiss was formed around 600 million years ago when the ancient North American continent, Laurentia, again collided with another continental block, Gondwana, which ultimately formed into today’s African and South American continents.
Thus, the mosaic work contains ancient stone from North America and Africa, collected a mere 20 miles apart in and around the Berkshire mountains in western Massachusetts. It is thought provoking to look at and touch the rock while thinking about this geo-history used in forming an image of elements of the universe. The newest galaxies in the universe, some of which are depicted in these works, are younger than this rock.