Finally finished my space series! 32 new paintings from Hubble images!

Hello, Steemers! I’m so excited to finally share my most recent space series with you. I warned you all that I fall off the face of the planet from time to time. Actually, I was off all social media and in hiding to the point that both my parents contacted me to ask if I was still alive. Because focus. It’s taken some time to get back on the horse, but the work I've finished and the conclusions I’ve come to in that time have been significant. I’ll update you guys in regards to my next steps in a future post soon!

With one of my final pieces, 31: Orion Nebula, at my opening reception hosted by Obelisk Home in their beautiful gallery.

My “Perspectives” series deals with different ways of seeing things. We all see the world from a different point of view. It starts with several paintings from the amazing images from the Hubble telescope (thanks, NASA!), and then I begin to slice up and manipulate them.

First it’s merely stripes, then to triangles, pyramids, tetrahedrons, octahedrons, and even a stellated tetrahedron (also known as a merkaba). I take an element from the previous painting and explore it in a different way in the next, and sometimes each of those sprout their own twist. The last painting could not exist without every painting between. Preceding the title is a number which represents its order in the series followed by the name of the subject of my Hubble reference.

2: Pismis 24, 18"x24", acrylic + oil on canvas

As I begin to manipulate, I attempt to add some kind of illusory effect because things aren’t as they seem. As always, I love using color theory in a tight impressionistic style to create an illusion of light. I also really enjoyed simply playing with a sense of depth, and there are a number of pieces in the series that can be looked at in multiple ways. For example, in one of my pyramid paintings (see 22) the shape looks flat or merely lines in one instance, but with another glance it has a three-dimensional appearance. So many times I’ve been humbled in life because I am certain something is one way just to be proven that my senses and logic are not always right, or at least not quite what I thought. If we are aware of our limited senses and understanding, it makes it easier to see things from multiple perspectives and be open to them.

I chose the cosmos as my reference because it brings the human race together. We are in this with each other on our pale blue dot, and we have so much more in common than we do different because of it. I think it's more important than ever to be open and understanding toward one another as we start to crowd this planet.

With that, I’m going to share a number of pieces that I think best represent my concept. I ended up with 32 new works for the exhibit total (31 included in the final series). It took 1.5 years in conception, and five months to create. I'm picky with my ideas for larger collections, and I paint well under pressure :) I hope you enjoy them!

4: Leo Triplet, 24"x18", acrylic + oil on canvas

5: Carina Nebula, 10"x8", acrylic + oil on canvas

7: Westerlund, 18"x24", acrylic + oil on canvas

9: Star Forming Region in the LMC, 10"x10",
acrylic on canvas

10: Orion Nebula, 16"x16", acrylic on canvas

13: Star Forming Region NGC 3603, 10"x10", acyrlic +
oil on canvas

15: Star Forming Region in the LMC, 12"x12", acrylic on birch panel

19: Wing of the SMC NGC 602, 12"x12", acrylic on birch panel

21: Carina Nebula, 36"x48", acrylic + oil on canvas

22: Star Forming Region in the LMC, 20"x20",
acrylic + oil on canvas

25: Westerlund, 24"x30", acrylic + oil on canvas

26: Carina Nebula, 30"x30", acrylic + oil on canvas

27: Tarantula Galaxy, 24"x30", acrylic + oil on canvas

28: Orion Nebula, 36"x36", acrylic + oil on canvas

29: Orion Nebula, 30"x30", acrylic + oil on canvas

30: Westerlund, 36"x36", acrylic + oil on canvas

31: Orion Nebula, 36"x36", acrylic + oil on canvas

The staff at Obelisk did an amazing job hanging my work, and I couldn't have asked for a better opening.

I love the opportunity to talk about my work at receptions.

I always like to ask my viewers which is their favorite piece and why so that I may continue to aim to make work that strikes a chord with my audience, so I'd love to know which one stood out to you and any other feedback you may have. I'm already in brainstorming mode for the next series!

If you'd like to see the paintings that I skipped over, you can find the whole series on my website in order at christiesnelson.com

Thanks for looking!