Mryka Hall-Beyer

This exhibit was displayed at the Calgary Science Centre from January 18 through April 3, 2005.

Exerpt from On Campus, December 2004

In January 2005, Art and Science camee together to explore the relationship between satellite imagery and art.  Dr. Mryka Hall Beyer, an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary, and Sharon Thirkettle, a Calgary artist have put together the “EARTH” exhibit that began a series of exhibits at the Calgary Science Centre bringing together Art and Science.

The exhibit was inspired by the similarity that the artist and scientist saw in each other’s work.   “When I first saw Sharon’s paintings” says Hall-Beyer “her landscapes reminded me of my satellite images, especially the colours.”  This was when the dialogue began.  “We found that we both had to work with similar rules and principles that constrained our work” explains Hall-Beyer as she talks about the exhibit that she and Thirkettle approached the Science Centre with in late 2003. 

Both participants were excited about the project as it was the first of its kind to bring together the two disciplines.    “You do not hear about artists approaching scientists for inspiration” says Thirkettle, “Like many others, I wish to experience with all my senses the diversity that exists on this planet.”  While satellite images allow Hall-Beyer to see natural objects in ways that the unaided eye cannot see them, to Sharon Thirkettle the images provide inspiration.  To Thirkettle “the satellite images have turned the whole Earth into an artist’s palette.”

The exhibit at the Science Centre explained satellite images and demonstrated similarities between the scientist’s and the artist’s way of interpreting them.  Thirkettle felt that the best medium to express her creativity was clay, which is one of earth’s basic elements.  In addition to clay, glass and different glazes were added to the clay to enhance the effect. From the scientist’s side, blue jeans, sand and green leaves were all used to explain the textures and colours seen in satellite imagery.

“It’s easier to talk about feeling texture than about seeing it. Yet on a satellite image two objects might be exactly the same except for their texture, so you have to have either words or mathematical expressions to describe it,” explained Hall-Beyer about her work.  In the EARTH exhibit Thirkettle was influenced by the satellite images and creates “colorful, organic, tactile forms” that allow us to explore these images in a 3-dimensional way.

The EARTH exhibit was a series of panels with satellite images and artwork. Visitors were able to touch, read about and understand the imagery as science and as interpreted through art.