Beyond Earth by Livia Oprescu, aims to promote STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts/humanities, and mathematics) through emotion and inspiration.
Livia has been painting since childhood, and after a career in law, she rediscovered her passion for art, the present exhibition being her first dedicated to space.
"Painting the space, I felt the fragility but also the curiosity and courage of the human being surrounded on its small blue planet by the grandeur of outer space. My message to the public is to acknowledge that the Universe is not a dark and empty place, but viewed through the eyes of science, is full of motion, matter, and colour. It is not foreign to us and distant, but we are an extension of it.", said Livia for the APECS's blog.
The Milky Way Galaxy
Dimensions: 70x50 cm
Elephant's Trunk Nebula - artist's impression
Interstellar gas and dust located at 3000 light-years from Earth.
Dimensions: 70x50 cm
The Helix Nebula- artist's impression
Also called the "Eye of God", located at 650 light-years from Earth.
Dimensions: 48x46 cm
Andromeda Galaxy- artist's impression
Neighbouring our Galaxy, the Milky Way.
Dimensions: 70x50 cm
Beyond Earth is the emotion born out of contemplating outer space as it is revealed to us by science. It is a tribute to science which has made the space exploration and research possible. Livia's art reveals vibrant, bold tones, following the motion of the Universe.
The technique used by Livia is an oily pastel with acrylic melange in layers superimposed on cardboard.
Livia launched the following challenge, at the opening of the exhibition:
"My works hide an encrypted message; I challenge you to decipher it. I will give you a clue: the word "filter". You will also find symbolic elements applied to the round frame. You can find the answer accessing the APECS blog."
Orion Nebula- artist's impression
Located at 1500 light-years from Earth.
Dimensions: 70x50 cm
Andromeda Galaxy in infrared
Dimensions: 100x70 cm
Deep Field
Dimensions: 100x70 cm
Perspective
Dimensions: 60 cm
The answer to the challenge launched by Livia at the opening of the exhibition:
The key is the word "filter".
The colours of the galaxies and nebulae are not visible to the human eye. Experts have applied different filters to the cameras. Then they designated the colours visible to the human eye: red, blue and green, to galaxies and nebulae component elements. For example, hydrogen is represented by red, oxygen by blue and sulphur by green. Thus, we manage to "see" the outer space in colours.
The elements applied to the round frame in Perspetive symbolises technology, the human element in the outer space.
Cool, isn't it? We hope you have enjoyed it! Thanks for visiting!