of time, lost let me tell you something about desire… I long for dark rooms. Crumbling architecture, peeling wallpaper, floors Polished by years of use. Dim light. Mirrors darkened with time, suspended in silence. I long for empty rooms. The residue of emotion contained within. Remnants. Traces of passage, Forgotten, like wilted bouquets. I long for silence. When absence and presence

Russian photographer Andrew Osokin captures the fragile beauty of snowflakes and ice crystals in the brief moments before they melt away. Using macro lenses, he reveals the exquisite world of not only these minute complex forms but also those of water droplets and insects in all their glory. To view more of his beautiful images, see his website. Snowflakes come

During the summer of my ninth and tenth years, my mother, in lieu of hiring a babysitter, kept me captive in our hometown Natural History Museum all day, everyday. She functioned as a vibrant and quirky volunteer curator while I spent very long, solitary weeks communing with the museum’s animals, both living and dead, as well as operating the ancient

Summer is the time of mounting cumulus clouds, the sharp claps and growling rumble of thunder, and the shock and beauty of lightning in its myriad forms. Lightning can appear as flashes, pulsing sheets, and frightening jagged strikes. Not only does it occur during thunderstorms, but it also can appear around erupting volcanoes and intense forest fires as well as

Artist’s Statement I am interested in how systems can be applied in the process of making art, how something can survive within a scheme of convention, exploring the system itself in order to understand it, and perhaps, trying to find a condition of artistic autonomy within the framework I create. Like Mondrian’s grids, the abstraction in my work has to

Guggenheim Fellow Erika Blumenfeld was artist-in-residence on a six-week expedition to Antarctica. This month's Visual Explorations seeks to awaken the imagination to the intersection of art, science, and humanity.

Humanity’s longest lasting remnants are found among the stars. Over the last fifty years, hundreds of satellites have been launched into geosynchronous orbits, forming a ring of machines 36,000 kilometers from earth. Thousands of times further away than most other satellites, geostationary spacecraft remain locked as man-made moons in perpetual orbit long after their operational lifetimes. Geosynchronous spacecraft will be

Photographs of Jerram’s glass artworks are used widely in medical journals, text books and media stories and are seen as useful representations of virology within the scientific community. His work has been presented in The Lancet, the British Medical Journal and on the front cover of Nature Magazine.

Inspired by physics, I use the lines of colliding atomic particles to explore a new language of abstraction. Fusing physics, digital technology, and painting, I create hyper-energetic, cascading compositions based on simulated atomic particle collisions. Amid an infinite void, thousands of vibrantly-hued dots explode and implode in a constant state of flux, conjuring fireworks, waterfalls, and volcanic mountains. An exploration

These installations are meant to embrace biotechnology and advances in science.

I was with my mother when she died a quarter of a century ago. As the terrible moment approached, she described something that struck me deeply. My brothers and sisters had livened her hospital room, given it bright colors, with various decorations, and my mother was gazing at them. She said the balloons were talking to her, and the colors were flowing together. The walls

A look into the bustling society of a hive full of honeybees.

My initial study in microbiology and my interest in the history of architecture have resulted in works informed by both geometric design and biological morphologies.

Everywhere you look, there is a hidden world that is unseen to the naked eye. Each plant, animal, speck of dust has its own story to tell. Through my photography, I aim to be the bridge between these microscopic worlds and the humans they coexist with. Often we overlook the smallest parts of life, taking for granted the technology, mechanism,

Planktonic microbes constitute the base of aquatic ecosystems. Protists are typical of the plankton as species richness seems unreasonably high—the "Paradox."

This is a pyramidal neuron from the hippocampus, a part of the brain where some kinds of memories are formed. This neuron has been labeled with fluorescent antibodies so that we can visualize microtubules (shown in green), which form a structural network inside the neuron, and insulin receptors (shown in red), which are cell surface proteins that instruct neurons to

From a series of microscope images exploring the surface beauty of insects and animals (butterfly wing scales, beetles' forewings) and micro crystals.

Dense star environments can cause amazingly intricate patterns.

The origin of high-energy particles in astrophysics is still a mystery. Annihilation of magnetic field lines of opposite orientation, a process known as “magnetic reconnection,” may convert the magnetic energy into particle energy. In this process, the magnetic field will end up being confined within magnetic islands (represented as red blobs in this image), with high-energy particles meandering among the

Extending the boundaries of the handmade to express abstract ideas, I confront the collision between art and science, directing energies into exploiting the properties of a primal material at the extremes of its capabilities.

My directive as an artist is to engage and communicate the meaning that lies before our eyes, and yet we do not see. I attempt to point to the "numinous," which is characterized by the quintessential qualities of the sacred: mystery, awe, fascination, satisfaction, and inspiration.

Literature, folktales and myths often inspire my exploration of the feminine archetype. My figures often bear the scars and imperfections, that, to me, characterize the struggle to become.

The spiral staircase has been viewed as a metaphor for both personal growth and historical development.

The artworks shown here are by multiple artists.

My work is spiritual and centering, told with simplicity, expressing in color and composition what cannot be spoken with words. It embodies the music, harmony, and mystery of the Universe, the underlying energy of our world, the music of being within all things, creating a peaceful, harmonious space wherein one can experience silence, stillpoint, and oneness with all.

With giant Saturn hanging in the blackness and sheltering Cassini from the sun's blinding glare, the spacecraft viewed the rings as never before, revealing previously unknown faint rings and even glimpsing its home world.

Works from my Circle, Hoops & Spirals and Sacred Spaces series at the 2009 Metanexus Conference

In the same way as all "objects" in this world are fundamentally impermanent, and essentially arbitrary, partitions of an otherwise continuous, unfragmented whole, photography is (for me) an almost mystical process whereby the "veils of fragmentation" are momentarily lifted and the underlying essence of the universe is revealed.

The purple cloth, woven in the aftermath of 9/11, celebrates the power and promise of hope. The buttons, created by clay artist Susan Ryles, are imprinted with the word hope in more than a dozen languages.

The photograph was taken on the streets of Bangkok. I was stunned by these plastic Buddhist monks sitting in a shop window. The statues are of famous Thai monks and are rendered with remarkable realism.

The imagery is drawn from that sublime altar of the earth that is the Himalaya—the Abode of the Gods. It was to these remote mountains, specifically the region of Lo, that esteemed Philadelphia composer Andrea Clearfield and I traveled in 2008 for the purposes of an artistic collaborative.

The repertoire of objects in a vanitas still-life is confined to external power symbols: crowns—including the papal tiara and mitres, as well as kingly crowns—and a knight's armour were always part of such still-lifes, as was the globe as a symbol of worldwide expansion and a craving for conquests. These "elements of vanity" are of central importance in this painting.

The exhibition was inspired by the work of physician and scholar, Andrew Newberg, and it is his brain scans of individuals engaged in religious experience that form the centerpiece of the exhibit.

The digital print uses a geoanalytical chart of the wind directions of the northern hemisphere to suggest the migration of physical matter (including genetic escapes) worldwide.

I take it upon myself to photograph the disappearing legacy of our sacred artists and craftsmen—as it is likely, with the way religion is going and the arts as well, that we will never see the power of these structures again to the same extent and fervor.

An interdisciplinary project predicated on the belief that contemporary art, at its best, can move outside of the narrow confines of the art world, approaching the general public through genuinely creative thought and a gentle activism.

© 2003 The William Blake Archive, Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi “The First Book of Urizen, as its title suggests, can be seen as the first book of Blake’s “Infernal Bible”. In it he offers an alternative view of creation in a rewriting of the biblical Book of Genesis. According to this view, creation itself needs to

I began this series of small drawings during my pregnancy to explore images of reproduction, gestation, and cellular growth within the confines of a restrained palette: pencil, needle, glue, paper.

I make work about desire, change, and living in pursuit of wholeness despite fear, anxiety, and obstacles. In these particular pieces, desire and yearning manifest themselves as physical thirsts for dirt and tears: gritty, basic, and pure.

One of 38 miniatures in watercolor from the "Aurora consurgens" ("Rising dawn"), an illuminated manuscript of the 15th century.

All of my work reflects my fascination with natural patterns and texture. I am interested in the natural cycles that are part of life. The subject matter is ordinary but transformed, isolated from its usual setting and viewed in the context of the universal forces of generation, growth and decay.

A series of computerized machine embroidered doilies mounted on black velvet. The design of each doily is based on a different viral structure.