Golden Primary Mirror

An idea that has long been simmering in my mind is the contrast between the mundane and the exquisite. Many of my drawings of the James Webb Space telescope describe an object of incredible precision, made with exotic materials, on the cutting edge of what is possible to build. 

The main visual element of the Webb telescope is a 21-foot-wide gold-plated primary mirror, whose purpose is to collect and focus infrared light from the farthest reaches of the visible universe and all points in between. In order to render a mirror in a drawing, one needs to describe what it reflects. Instead of drawing what the JWST mirror will reflect, out in space, these drawings reflect the environment in which it was built, as well as reflections of the telescope itself, highlighting its sculptural qualities. Showing the instrument in the mundane fabrication room where it was being constructed sets up a dichotomy with its exquisite engineering, as well as with the transcendent universal knowledge it will help us gain.