Artist Statement
“Then I will tell you a great secret, Captain. Perhaps the greatest of all time. The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up this station and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We are star-stuff, we are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out. As we have both learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of perspective.”
Ambassador Delenn, A Distant Star , author: J. Michael Straczynski
I was sitting on a sidewalk with a piece of black illustration board across my lap sketching a nebula in layers of colorful chalk, when an interested man a little older then myself asked me what I was working on. “A Nebula.” I replied. A blank look answered me, with a vague but polite smile. “What’s a nebula? It’s very pretty.” I explained, and hope he at least went off with an appreciation, but in that moment, I knew.
On the cusp of our greatest discoveries, there is a profound lack of science literacy and interest. We live in a world surrounded by wonder; from the furthest reaches of the cosmos to the deepest trenches in our oceans. Every day we make discoveries and breakthroughs, and the wider world notices very little. Somehow the word has stopped getting out there. The lines of communication – even in a world steeped in communication, are getting lost.
My artwork focuses on the concepts, discoveries, and breakthroughs that shape today’s world. Through highly detailed acrylic paintings, to the vivid sweeping colors of soft pastel on a rich black background, I want to display the rich beauty of our universe. I spin philosophy through pen and ink and scrawl, and will mix all the mediums together to echo the complexity of deeper, more theoretical concepts. I want to give the universe a change of perspective; allow it to enthrall and entertain, capture attention and create a spectacle of itself. I want to hook people in and remind them that our culture moves best when all the disciplines work together; when the artists and poets and musicians sit down with the philosophers, physicists, and mathematicians.
My name is Melissa Davies. I am an Artist for the Art of Science.
Lines of Communication are now open.