A MAP OF THE CONSTELLATIONS
Natural and hand-foraged pigments, 23.5ct gold & 9.6ct white gold on recycled hemp paper
147cm x 80cm (57.9” x 31.5”)
2020
This painting is a map of our celestial sphere. As with all celestial maps, old and new, it is near impossible for it not to be beautiful, simply because the thing depicted is itself so mysteriously beautiful, so beautifully infinite, and so infinitely mysterious (or some combination of those words).
The map is designed the same way a common world map is, with north at the top and south at the bottom (in this case north being the north celestial pole and south being the south celestial pole); and converted from a globe into a flat rectangle, causing stretched distortions in all four corners.
The constellations depicted in the painting are the 88 modern constellations as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), with the sizes of the stars representing their relative magnitude (to a fair degree of accuracy). Running through the centre of the painting is the ecliptic plane including my own playful interpretations of zodiacal imagery, unifying art and science, astrology and astronomy.
