Lylie Fisher: Beauty bubbles through

For artist Lylie Fisher, particle physics is much more than a field of science.

It is art: "Like art, particle physics deals with the invisible," says Fisher. "One portrays emotional and spiritual experiences; the other studies unseen matter and energy. Science is the voice of the rational mind, and art is the reverberation of questioning."

It is philosophy: "Particle physicists, like theologians, wish to understand our beginnings," she says. "They want to know how we came about from the great unknown."

Fisher uses her art to reveal a hidden beauty and meaning in particle physics experiments. "My quest is to draw out the intrinsic beauty of the occurrences, and allow the images to breathe beyond the scientific realm," she says.

Using layers of resins, pigments, and varnishes, Fisher can transform a flat, abstract-looking print into a work of art with depth, color, and texture. Using historic 1960s bubble chamber images from SLAC as her starting point, Fisher has created a series of paintings, titled "In Search of Meaning." The finished pictures glisten like burnished membranes; the particle tracks appear to float over a richly-textured background.

Fisher hopes to exhibit her paintings at SLAC and other physics laboratories. Her broader objective, she says, is to foster a dialogue between science, art, and community in a way that will allow others "to explore the essence of the universe in a broader context."

What is it about particle physics experiments that appeals to Fisher?

"They reveal a minuscule galaxy that replicates the dawn of time," she says. "As I paint in these rich colors I think about particle and string theories, and notions of parallel dimensions of reality. For me, this depth of color represents the intellectual and emotion space we inhabit."

For more information on the artist, visit http://www.lyliefisher.com/
 

Text: Chandra Shekhar
Paintings: Lylie Fisher