Space on Earth

April 29, 2019                                   Space on Earth                                    Catherine Rohsner

This is the painting I was going to submit for the “Artists Inspire Astronauts Challenge” by NASA. This is more or less how I explain this crazy painting:

NASA is discovering more how a greater understanding of outer space leads to a greater knowledge about the earth’s creation and makeup. The quest for this connected knowledge ultimately leads to the point from which life springs. Hence, as a family of ordinary folks start from an earth laden with the mysteries of the galaxies and venture upward, they ultimately venture toward the knowledge of how to better care for their home planet. And the higher in space they get, the weirder and more wonderful the earth becomes in their eyes, and the closer faraway planets and stars seem to become.

Technical description of the piece:

As you can see, starting from the bottom of the painting going up, the galaxies Andromeda and the Milky Way are just colliding, while the newly-discovered black hole and an ocean hurricane exist to the right. (lol) “Above ground,” the Capitol building, a skyscraper, a couple houses, and a few rocket ships stand under a sunrise. The Morning Star hovers over the town. In the center is the stalk of a fern, the freshest tip still curled like a galaxy. On the right, there’s a galaxy within a weird-looking plant, and a Van Gogh style Milky Way in the mound beyond that. The same buildings with a rocket ship converted to a house on it. Beyond in the sky, from left to right, is the moon, a mirror reflection of the family traveling within the moon’s mysterious dark side. Mars goes beyond, and the stars even further. And then there’s the sun.

Hidden meaning in this piece:

I am a fan of the song “Andromeda” by The Gorillaz, and searching further found that Andromeda might collide with the Milky Way in the far-off future. I also saw in light research that the Morning Star can be a symbol for Jesus. So this painting is kind of the end of the world and I don’t know why, but it is. There’s a white calla lily painted on the capitol building on the fantastical right side; it was the closest flower I could find representing nobility.

Fun fact:

The Gorillaz’s song “Tranz” partly inspired the mood of this painting.