Sun Art
Sun Drawings
on exhibit at Haystack ObservatoryThere is no question. The power of the visual experience, ever changing with the motion of the sun, can only be fully conveyed by seeing the art in person. But for those of you who can not be present at the right time on a sunny day, we present a few pictures to help you appreciate Saad-Cook's innovative and unusual sculptures.
What is a Sun Drawing?
A Sun Drawing is a changing image of light. To create one, the artist shapes and assembles reflective materials (mirrored metals and optically coated glass) and positions the reflective sculpture in a pre-selected path of direct sunlight. As sunlight touches the sculpture, an image of light gradually appears on the surrounding walls and ceiling. This image slowly and subtly changes as sunlight completes its passage across the sculpture.
The optical coatings on the glass are multi-layered interference coatings that break light into its pure colors. No pigments are used. The colors in a Sun Drawing are pure colors of sunlight. The artist, Janet Saad-Cook, determines the colors, shapes transitions and images by the way she forms the glass, the type of interference coating layered onto the glass and the way she combines the coated glass with mirrored metals.
As you view any photographs of Sun Drawings, please remember that you are looking at a still image of what is a moving phenomenon.
For More Information:
- Read the original press release.
- Dances with Light, The Sun Drawings of Janet Saad-Cook, by Susan Fegley Osmond appeared in The World & I, December 1997, pages 108 to 115. The World & I is a publication of The Washington Times Corporation. This article is copyright (c) 1997 and is reproduced here with permission of The World & I.
- Download: PDF (558 k)
- Contact the Sun Foundation directly:
- The Sun Foundation, Project Office
Phone: 703-528-3811
Fax: 703-528-3812
E-mail: pboyce@aas.org
- The Sun Foundation, Project Office
781.981.5407 
