“Bumper Moons (Experiment 8)” by Louisa Willis ‘17, tied for third place in 2017 Art of Science Competition
The organizers of the Princeton University Art of Science Competition announced the winning entries of the 2017 competition at an opening reception on Friday, May 5. Graduate student Tsung-Lin Hsieh received first place, graduate student Michael Fusella received second place, and Yuzki Oey ’19, along with visual arts major Louisa Willis ’17, tied for third place.
“Bumper Moons (Experiment 7)” by visual arts major Louisa Willis ‘17, tied for third place in the 2017 Art of Science Competition.
The eighth Art of Science exhibition explores the interplay between science and art and consists of images produced during the course of scientific inquiry that have aesthetic merit. The entire Princeton University community — undergraduate students, faculty, post-doctoral researchers, staff, graduate students, and alumni — were invited to submit images or video. The 2017 competition drew more than 170 submissions from a wide-range of disciplines.
Louisa Willis’ pair of winning entries are entitled Bumper Moons (Experiment 7) and Bumper Moons (Experiment 8). She is currently showing related work as part of her senior thesis art show, on display through May 12 in the Lucas Gallery at 185 Nassau Street. In Lumpy Projector, Willis presents sculpture, projection, photographs and video to explore light, along with objects that explore light and create a space for visual study. Within the Lucas Gallery, Willis’s work is presented using overhead projectors, light boxes and tri-chrome photographs that experiment with layering of light and color. The exhibition also features a cinema constructed of paper in which to view her experimental films about light and color.
Crystal Qian ’17 stands by her paintings included in the 2017 Art of Science Exhibition.
Recent paintings by visual arts student Crystal Qian ’17 are also included in the Art of Science exhibition. Her series of paintings — exhibited as a complement to the formal competition entries — are on display for the way Qian examines technology, cognition and the digital aesthetic through pop art and optical illusion. Qian, a computer science major, also exhibited the paintings in April at Frist Campus Center as part of her senior thesis exhibition, completing requirements for her certificate in the Program in Visual Arts.
Current faculty member and photographer Jeff Whetstone served as a judge in this year’s competition, along with Professor of Visual Arts, Emeritus, Emmet Gowin. Director of the Princeton University Art Museum James Steward completed the distinguished panel of judges.
The Art of Science Exhibition will be on display through the end of the year in the Friend Center Atrium on the University campus. The exhibit is free and open to the public during Friend Center hours, which are weekdays from 9:00 am. to 5:00 p.m. The Friend Center is located at the corner of William and Olden Streets in Princeton. Online galleries of the current and past exhibitions are available at artofsci.princeton.edu.
