Unknowns
Photo by David Paul Bayles
Unknowns act as portals to discovery, sparking journeys into the mysteries of the unsolved. Science and art share a fascination with uncertainty, igniting the process of questioning, uncovering, and understanding the truths, errors, and illusions of imagination.
The handleable objects are crafted from recycled materials—rag rug strands, bed sheet elastic, egg cartons, and packaging remnants. Originally designed as collagraph plates for experimental printing, these objects have evolved. Painted flat black and juxtaposed with microscopic biological forms, they evoke black holes—symbols of the vast macrocosm.
As Carl Sagan reminds us: “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
This interconnectedness extends to the Earth, which gains meteoric dust and debris while losing hydrogen and helium to space. These cycles of creation and decay reflect our universe’s rhythms, urging us to ponder our place within it.