When I was 22 I enlisted in the US Navy. I ended up going to Nuclear Power School and working as a chemist on a fast attack submarine. I was very interested in radiation, the way sub-atomic particles interacted with each other and the subsequent energies that were released. This was a huge departure from the early bohemian lifestyle I had been leading as a starving artist and college student. When I underwent the psych battery that all potential submariners have to pass, I found that I was over 80% right brained. Recently, after the navy and 25 years in the corporate world I was tested again and this time the reults were much different. I tested at almost a perfect 50-50 percentage between being right brained and/or left brained. That's just not right...
What this has left me with, is a strong desire to incorporate science into my art. With Elemental Energies (36" x 79" acrylic on refurbished door panel) I have tried to balance the beauty of color and composition with the incredible and sometimes destructive power of the atom. In the mushroom cloud we see the energies of atomic particles illustrated (no, they are not sperm cells) and the elements listed as if there were part of the periodic table, are mostly resulting isotopes from fission reactions from an atomic bomb or nuclear reactor. Perhaps the most powerful element of all is listed in the lower right hand corner; (Hu) or the "human" element. Without this human element there would be no potential for the generation of almost limitless energy or sadly, such unbelievable destruction.
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