Command Module Red 004

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Mixed media on Board 120 x 120 cm. 2025 Framed in a white molding Command Module Red depicts a head-on view of the Lunar Module docking with the Command Module. I began this series in 2019 while an artist-in-residence at the Carter Observatory, where I was invited to create work in response to the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing. What started as a skeptic’s perspective on space exploration evolved into a journey of wonder and awe at this monumental achievement in human history. The red vermillion hue, a color I associate with sacredness, also represents thesearing heat of re-entry as the Command Module returns to Earth's atmosphere.Looking back at this period of work and how it has evolved, I see spaceexploration not just as a scientific pursuit but also as a deeply spiritual journey. Focusing on the astronaut’s experience—leaving Earth’s atmosphere, seeing ourplanet as a distant entity for the first time, and gazing into the vast darkness ofspace—I ask: How would this affect the mind, body, and spirit? Michael Collins, the Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11, struggled todescribe the experience and famously said that next time, he would bring “apriest, a poet, and a philosopher” to better explain it. Show more