Red, 2017, porcelain 28 x 15 cm SOLD
Physicists say that the universe can be traced back to a beginning and each of our bodies to high mass stars. We are not simply in the universe, we are part of it, born from its dust. 1] Perhaps it is therefore not so strange to look for the symmetry between a photon of red light landing on an atom and that passionate man called Red.
When a stream of light falls on a metal atom, like iron, some light is absorbed into the electromagnetic field of the metal atom to energize electrons to higher orbital states, but some of the light is not needed and is reflected away from the atom. It is this reflection of light that we see as colour.
When we observe Red Iron Oxide, we see a reflection of Red because we can’t see deep into the heart of the atom. Knowing that Red FeO turns Umber when fired to 1260 degrees, it must be that the hidden heart of Red is Umber.
Red is therefore not at all itself.
Yet Red will do anything for you, he will engage in toxic toil for you, wear a mask and loose his soul for you, until one day when he sits up in his leaves and cries ‘Lord, this is not who I am!’
Bibliography
- Tyson N.D, Goldsmith D, 2014, Origins, fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution. 1st ed.
