Primal Trails

When the worlds of art and science collide, inspiration sometimes strikes in the sparks. Artist Roshan Houshmand creates a new perspective on the world of particle physics through her paintings, transforming physics into art. The paintings are based on the tracks of subatomic particles through bubble chambers, which are one of many kinds of detectors in particle accelerators designed to track particle movements. Bubble chambers are filled with superheated liquid, and the charged particles boil the liquid as they race through and leave a trail of bubbles behind. These compellingly beautiful patterns inspired Houshmand to create her series of ‘Event Paintings’. “I loved the sophisticated, simple playfulness of lines depicting charges, energies, speeds, mass and so much more,” Houshmand says. “There is something so pure and primal and universal about the movement of the trails and swirls and dancing lines against the black, which exist for less than a breath of time before they disappear.”

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