Franziska Schenk is a contemporary artist concerned with the complex interrelationship between us and the natural world. Here you can view her work and learn about her methods. Click on an image below to begin.

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SciArt Project: The Art of Iridescence





 

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Iridescent nano-structures in butterfly wing-scales

Capturing Nature's Fluctuating Colours on Canvas

For centuries artists and scientists have been fascinated by the iridescent colours displayed in the natural world. Although iridescence is best known via the dazzling hues of hummingbirds and the metallic blue of the Morpho butterfly, it occurs across a range of animal groups from beetles, fish to jellyfish. These changeable hues are not produced by pigments but are created by complex physical nano-structures interplaying with light to create striking effects.

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Butterfly wing magnified

Until now artists have tried in vain to capture these 'natural jewels'. Such representations were never perfect, because colours of this type, by their very nature, defy our best efforts at visual representation. Now, for the first time, scientific developments in the production of commercial 'pigment' technology, offer artists the wonderful, yet challenging, potential opportunity to accurately depict iridescence. However, these ‘pigments’ (developed with the car, cosmetic and plastic industries in mind) currently remain restricted to industrial usage. The major drawback, which seriously restricts and impedes their advancement in art, is that they do not adhere to colour theory as applied in painting.




The Art of Iridescence

The aim of this Arts Council funded project was to develop and deliver an extended solo exhibition, comprising of existing and new work. The resulting series - launched as part of the British Science Festival 2010 - marks the latest stage in Schenk's ongoing guest to arrive at chameleonesque paintings. Inspired by the iridescent colours adorning insect wings, the artist persevered in her attempt to adapt revolutionary industrial colour-shifting nanoparticles for painting.

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And, indeed, with the rare moth Erebus obscura as exemplar, and evolutionary developmental biology as inspiration, Schenk succeeded in capturing the insect's iridescent hues for the first time on canvas. The desired effect is achieved, the resulting paintings fluctuate in perceived colour, depending on the light variation and viewing angle.



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