"Messier 17" by Jan Pieter Fokkens

Chicago-based artist Jan Pieter Fokkens uses his work as a means of processing the incomprehensible. Navigating the relationship between algorithmic abstraction and the tangible qualities of pattern and color, Fokkens meditates on how reality is mediated by digital image. Entitled "Messier 17," this vibrant drawing offers a representation of the Omega Nebula, one of the largest star-forming regions in the Milky Way galaxy. Using optical data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, Fokkens extracts the average color of each coordinate, and uses archival markers to represent it as a single line upon the photo paper. The result is a reductionist account of an unimaginable sight.

Framed. Pigment ink on photo paper.