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The fine art of bubble chambers

Dormant, by Roshan Houshmand, 20" by 16" oil on canvas

"Dormant"by Roshan Houshmand, 20 by 16 inches, oil on canvas, 2008

In symmetry's June/July 2007 issue we featured the work of Roshan Houshmand, who was inspired by particle trails left in bubble chambers at Brookhaven National Laboratory and CERN  to create a series of luminous paintings.  The Iranian-American artist said she hadn't thought much about physics until she attended a lecture by theorist Brian Greene in her small town in upstate New York.

"It was quite a revelation,” Houshmand said.  “One of the most amazing things he talked about was the theory that there are 11 dimensions to reality. Somehow, this statement produced a tremendous feeling of relief in me, and allowed me to redefine my perspectives on life.”

From there, Houshmand launched into a five-month crash course in physics, reading everything from textbooks to Greene’s The Elegant Universe.

Houshmand has posted a number of new paintings on her Web site, along with thoughts about her work and its relationship to physics.