2023 Bridges Conference Art Exhibition
Caroline Bowen
Artists
Caroline Bowen
Artist
Hypotenuse Studios
Louisville, Tennessee, USA
Statement
I graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2016 with my bachelors in math and academic physics with a minor in studio art. My intentions as an artist are to share and explore the beauty of mathematical physics through sculpture, using a wide variety of media including alcohol ink, Mylar plastic film, acrylic rod, 3D-printed PLA, thread, beads, and colored cardstock.
Artworks
Electric Dipole
52.0 x 108.0 x 46.0 cm
Clear plastic, alcohol ink, acrylic rod, plastic straws, wood, house paint, Mylar plastic film
2023
Using 4,563 beads positioned in a 3D grid, this sculpture illustrates an electron and a proton (the two large black beads) and how the electrostatic potential of this charge configuration varies in the 3D space around it. The larger, darker colored beads located closest to these point sources represent the locations where the electrostatic field is most strongly negative or positive, with the bead size shrinking and the color lightening as the absolute magnitude of the electrostatic potential decreases to zero. The beads were dyed with alcohol ink and then strung on thin acrylic rod with precisely cut pieces of plastic straws used as spacers based on plans generated using a Python script.