LQG & THE PLANETS PAINTINGS

This series was inspired by six books of Italian Theoretical Cosmologist Carlo Rovelli, and a theory in which he is attempting to merge General Relativity and Quantum Physics. This theory is called, “Loop Quantum Gravity” (or LQG for short).

The LQG theory posits, like all things in our universe, space(time) itself is "granular;" made of irreducible particles on an unimaginably small scale - the "Planck Scale" - a billion, billion times smaller than atoms. In this way, the ‘granularity’ does not occur IN space(time) but rather IS space(time). Just like atoms are the building blocks of matter, these ‘quanta of gravity’ are the building blocks that make up what we currently refer to as space(time).

I attempt to ‘visually’ describe LQG theory in these paintings' backgrounds, with “brushstrokes of space(time)." These brushstrokes also create the dark ‘gravity well’ you can see around each planetary body, representing the curvature of space(time). This ‘gravity well’ demonstrates what another theoretical physicist, John Wheeler concisely declared when he said: “Space tells matter how to move and matter tells space how to curve.”

Note: Double-click each image below for a description.