Particles 

My new series Particles is an investigation into the interactions of subatomic particles inside an accelerator.  It follows on my series of paintings of the machinery of the Large Hadron Collider, which were most recently exhibited at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.  In these latest pieces, I am attempting to depict the super-small world of high energy collisions, filled with virtual particles, quantum loops, and hadronic jets.

 The paintings are executed in acrylic paint on transparent mylar, and feature splashes and splatters from a very dynamic application of the paint with large house-painter’s brushes.  I work on both sides of the surface.  There are subtle pencil and ink marks which I use to suggest three-dimensionality of the marks.

 I am at the beginning stages of developing a formal vocabulary for these pieces, in which different parts of the theory of subatomic particles correspond to specific formal elements of the paintings.  I have been reengaging with the theory of the Standard Model, and studying the technical results from colliders like the LHC.  In this exploration I am aided by my original undergraduate degree as a physicist.  Although a complete understanding of these theories requires a full course of graduate study, I am still inspired to try to visualize particles in a new way.