Phi (2019)

Jill Nichols
Phi (2019)

Paper Print, prepared by the artist of original painting on copper
Inspired by a Hubble image of the Eta Carina Nebula

The artist writes: In the process of painting ‘Phi’, I was acutely aware that the reference image represents a nebula that no longer exists in exactly the same form, and in fact has not for millions of years. The past had become present and then past again. The Fibonacci sequence continually multiplied and divided within itself, to infinity to infinitesimal and back again. Time dropped away as I traveled through the expanses of space and found myself in a dance with the color and light of the Carina. The thought occurred to me that there might even be Earth/Carina entangled particles. I realize that the last thought sounds a bit like pre-Copernicus’s thinking, that everything revolves around us. However, my thinking is more that everything is interconnected and therefore one thing is bound to affect another.

It is a gift that brings me intense joy – to share beauty, truth and touch another’s soul. And in the end that is what ‘Phi’ is all about – touching souls. I’m hoping that in viewing ‘Phi’ in person that you’ve found your initial thoughts validated, that ‘Phi’ would be at home in the Vatican Observatory.