“…aside from art, nature is one of the most amazing and comforting things to me ... I think of it as a place of discovery.”
—Vija Celmins
The natural world has continued to intrigue and fascinate Vija Celmins, who is most well known for her labor-intensive, photorealistic images of quiet, natural environments like the rolling sea, the constellation filled night sky, and the baren desert floor. Divided Night Sky, completed in 2010, is a classic example of the artist’s oeuvre, illustrating a rich, dark sky illuminated by a complex pattern of stars. Celmins creates a highly accurate image of the cosmos, removing the horizon or any central point of reference, in a successful effort to explore the representations of three-dimensional stars on a two-dimensional surface. This image is one in a series of five mezzotint prints that explores the celestial sphere and its luminous bodies. The series includes four other prints, entitled Reverse Galaxy, Falling Stars, Dark Galaxy and Web Ladder, that, like Divided Night Sky, evoke the vast, isolated nature of the skies, conveying both a feeling of breadth and a sense of being engulfed by the infinite, expansive universe. The night sky motif, inspired by her telescopic photographs, is one that Celmins is particularly partial to and has dedicated much of her career to exploring with careful precision.
“The images are not from observations of nature, but are ‘found images’ from old magazines, books and photos. Thus they are already flattened and a step removed from nature. My work lies between intimacy and distance.”
—Vija Celmins
