Happy 70th, Professor Stephen Hawking and Thank You! ;-)

Portrait of Stephen Hawking: "Wink to Life". Technique: mixed (oil, acrylic, crayon, etc) on canvas. Size: approx. 66 x 66 cm Date: 2012

Dear Professor Stephen Hawking. I wish to thank you.

Thank you for your determination and stubbornness in life which is an inspiration to us all. I received your message addressed today quite well: "Be curious" (I am) and "Don't give up!" (I won't). This is why I decided to paint this second portrait of yours after this first one (end of 2009) after we met the year before.

Mr. Hawking, your MND (Motor Neurone Disease) limits you immensely. It allows you now to use only the right-hand side of your face. Ironically, this physical handicap permits you to "wink" to us and to this Universe. A wink to “fate”. Hence your portrait and its title.  ;-)

Creativity is a very complex and “uncertain” activity. I tried then many different solutions/ compositions to convey both your personality and the scientific issues and challenges that have occupied your entire life.

I destroyed this painting of mine.

I eventually destroyed these first compositions  but decided to come back to one of them with a new approach based on my current research regarding C.P. Snow’s “Two Cultures” question : what is apparently dividing Arts (Humanities) and Sciences and why such dichotomy? Are these disciplines irreconcilable?

Cosmology is also divided by dichotomies; the principles of quantum mechanics and the laws of general relativity (GR) of our known Universe are apparently (mathematically) irreconcilable theories, which Professor Hawking tries to solve.

The background of my 2012 portrait of Professor Hawking is an attempt to illustrate this: I decided to "superpose" patterns from particle collisions against patterns from nebulae/ galaxies. Prof. Hawking's face (mind) then appears as a possible "bridge" between these two perspectives (relativistic and quantic). We humans stand between the very large and the very small scales. 

WINKS!...
There are many winks in this portrait. Besides Professor Hawking's, there are both artistic and scientific winks too.

The background is incomplete on its left-hand side... on purpose. It refers to the so-called "theory of everything" (TOE) which Professor Hawking and his colleagues are working on for decades. At the forefront I painted what particles collisions look like when smashed into smaller pieces. The process appear very "random" and "chaotic"and I used dripping techniques from Jackson Pollock's. Although "chaotic" the particle collisions follow some patterns (straight lines or spirals) which our eyes /mind can recognize... Behind this, I painted nebulae/ galaxies which obey to Einstein's GR laws of gravity. These two "perspectives", the infinitely small (quantic level) and the infinitely large are superposed, trying to visually express this mystery.

Doing so I hope to contribute to solve another dichotomy: that between Arts (Humanities) and Sciences.

Professor Hawking's "wink" is pointing both at this TOE and Life itself.;-)

Latest news:
Unwell Hawking misses 70th birthday celebrations

Notes: 

1. A few weeks after my 2012 portrait of Professor Hawking, David Hockney was invited to do his portrait of Professor Hawking to celebrate his 70th birthday. It is now part of the Science museum exhibit. I have no idea how it looks like, it seems shown nowhere.
2. I also submitted my portrait at this year 2012 BP award of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG). This was the other reason why I finished it in January 2012 (Professor Hawking's birthday is on January 8, 1942). Why NPG? To give its curators and director an opportunity to redeem themselves after having  commissioned Professor Hawking's portrait in 1985 to Yolanda Sonnabend who delivered a very poor portrait. When visiting NPG, this portrait became my motivation for contacting Professor Hawking in 2008, and to learn we shared the same views on this poor portrait by Sonnabend. The 2012 BP award rejected my submission.

Happy 70th, Professor Stephen Hawking and Thank You! "Wink to Life"... ;-)

Portrait of Stephen Hawking: "Wink to Life". Technique: mixed (oil, acrylic, crayon, etc) on canvas. Size: approx. 66 x 66 cm

Dear Professor Stephen Hawking. I wish to thank you.

Thank you for your determination and stubbornness in life which is an inspiration to us all. I received your message addressed today quite well: "Be curious"(I am) and "Don't give up!" (I won't). This is why I decided to paint this second portrait of yours after this first one (end of 2009) after we met the year before.

Creativity is a very complex and “uncertain” activity. I tried then many different solutions/ compositions to convey both your personality and the scientific issues and challenges that have occupied your entire life.

I eventually destroyed these first compositions (see right-hand side picture) but decided to come back to one of them with a new approach based on my current research regarding C.P. Snow’s “Two Cultures” question : what is apparently dividing Arts and sciences and why so?

This portrait's background is an attempt to illustrate this crucial paradox (yet real) between two theories; the quantic and the relativistic laws of our Universe. I decided to "superpose" patterns from particle collisions against patterns from nebulae/ galaxies, … with us humans, the very complex ones, in between the very large and the very small scales. You are standing where “human complexity” does.

We know that your MND (Motor Neurone Disease) limits you immensely. It allows you now to use only the right-hand side of your face. Ironically, this physical handicap permits you to "wink" to us and to this Universe. A wink to “fate”. Hence your portrait. ;-)

Latest news:
Unwell Hawking misses 70th birthday celebrations

My comments:
WINKS!...
There are many winks in this portrait. Besides Professor Hawking's, there are both artistic and scientific winks too.
The background is incomplete on its left-hand side... on purpose. It "symbolizes" the so-called "theory of everything" (TOE) which Professor Hawking and his colleagues are working on for decades. At the forefront I painted what particles collisions look like when smashed into smaller pieces. The process appear very "random" and "chaotic"and I used dripping techniques from Jackson Pollock's. Although "chaotic" the particle collisions follow sometimes very geometric mathematical paths (straight lines or spirals)... Behind this, I painted nebulae/ galaxies which obey to Einstein's General relativity laws of gravity. These two "levels", the infinitely small (quantum level) and infinitely large are placed as in "perspective", trying to visually reconcile two seemingly irreconcilable theories, towards a so-called "TOE"...
Professor Hawking's "wink" is pointing both at this TOE and to Life itself.;-)

Notes: 

1. A few weeks after my 2012 portrait, David Hockney was invited to do his portrait of Professor Hawking to celebrate his 70th birthday. It is now part of the Science museum exhibit.
2. I also submitted my portrait at this year 2012 BP award of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG). This was the second reason why I finished it this January (the first being Professor Hawking's birthday). Why NPG? To give its curators and director an opportunity to redeem themselves after having  commissioned Professor Hawking's portrait in 1985 to Yolanda Sonnabend who delivered a very poor portrait. When visiting NPG, this portrait became my motivation for contacting him in 2008, and to learn we shared the same views on this poor portrait by Sonnabend. The 2012 BP award rejected my submission.

Disability and Art

This portrait is of someone whose body is seriously disabled (she is an ALS/MND sufferer). My idea was to be honest about her disability, which for me meant showing her body as it is, without hiding anything yet  in a tactful and respectful manner. So, my solution was inspired by Velásquez's or Rubens' "Venus": a naked "Venus", symbol of femininity BUT showing only her back while... she is watching US via her mirror! So, when visitors (mostly male in those days) were expecting to peep at an attractive naked female body, in fact the situation was reversed: watchers they weren't anymore, they were the watched ones! This painting was very feminist indeed. 

In my painting, because of her handicap, it was decided that the mirror would be locally cracked, hinting at her disabled body.

In Velásquez times (mid 17th century) this painting was so provocative that it managed to escape the Spanish Inquisition only because it remained hidden in a private collection.

Ironically it didn't survive well the 20th century when in 1914, the militant suffragette and feminist Mary Richardson slashed Velásquez's masterpiece in protest of women's situation (see photograph).

This composition seems to unsettle many. The subject of my portrait has refused to "endorse" it. It will  therefore remain anonymous.

More on Velásquez's "Venus" popularity.

EXCLUSIVE: Mother With ALS Paints Again Using Eye-controlled Device

Showing disability in an "artistic" manner seems to create controversy.

Disabled artist Alison Lapper did create controversy when a statue of her naked body (born with short legs and no arms) was erected at Trafalgar Square in... 2005. 

The "Other Portrait" of Professor Stephen Hawking

(click on this picture for zooming and more information)

My portrait had the ambition to not only convey Professor Hawking's sense of determination in life ("against the odds") but also to include some of his scientific ideas (see full picture below). That his greatness has also to do with his intellectual struggle with his life-time scientific research (in brief: the "Theory of Everything"). Plus, his sense of humour and irony which you discover when reading his books (hence his smile in my portrait among other "subtilities"....) A portrait that would convey inspiration and respect, not "distracted" by his physical handicap (MND/ALS) as it is so often the case.

It is also part of my project to build a bridge between the worlds of arts and sciences. To try provide an answer to C.P. Snow's "Two Cultures" essay. In Professor Hawking's case, it involved me attempting to grasp Bohr's and Feynman's quantum mechanics or Einstein's general relativity concepts and "translate" them visually.

It 'll be a long and lonely road, I am afraid.

This portrait of Professor Stephen Hawking unveiled last November at the Royal Society in London, was commissioned to artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg soon after I was in contact and met with Professor Hawking- spending an afternoon in his office to start his portrait.

Tai-Shan has done a powerful rendering of Hawking's portrait, giving a sense of struggle and determination.

Hawking portrait unveiled at the Royal Society

Some other portraits of Professor Stephen Hawking:

My portrait of Prof. Stephen Hawking

It is not my habit to comment my paintings. They should "speak" for themselves. I will however give here some clues: "Big Ben" represents our "newtonian" (classical) time but if you look closely its time is... wrong! It is affected by the nearby galaxy's black hole (Einstein's "General relativity"). The "Event horizon" here is replacing our classical traditional "horizon."
The galaxy's black hole cannot be visible but if you look at the real painting, the canvas is locally dented as would our space-time when considered as a four-dimensional "brane".

"All of my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them. If, like me, you have looked at the stars, and tried to make sense of what you see, you too have started to wonder what makes the universe exist. "

— Stephen W. Hawking

From website for PBS program, Stephen Hawking's Universe (1997).

My portrait of Prof. Stephen Hawking

It is not my habit to comment on my paintings. They should "speak" for themselves. I will however give here some clues: "Big Ben" represents our "newtonian" (classical) time but if you look closely its time is... wrong! It is affected by the nearby galaxy's black hole (Einstein's "General relativity"). The "Event horizon" here is replacing our classical traditional "horizon."
The galaxy's black hole cannot be visible but if you look at the real painting, the canvas is locally dented as would our space-time when considered as a four-dimensional "brane".

"All of my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them. If, like me, you have looked at the stars, and tried to make sense of what you see, you too have started to wonder what makes the universe exist. "

— Stephen W. Hawking

From website for PBS program, Stephen Hawking's Universe (1997).

Hawking's portrait: Time Flies!

I like this expression "Time Flies" because, it is true! My time for the last year has been so hectic and difficult but who am I to complain? I wished I could have completed the portrait of the author of "A Brief History of Time" sooner but I am afraid it 'll take a bit longer. Luckily I am at this present moment in a better situation for my mind to focus. Of course, not being a scientist, just a layman my approach to these questions is more "intuitive" i.e. "visual".
"What I cannot create I do not understand" said Physicist Richard Feynman as quoted by Hawking in his "The Universe in a Nutshell" book. So this is how I am trying to understand Hawking: by being creative. With a fresher approach I have decided to change its composition (again!) while immersing in the amazing world of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Time is key in this new composition as it is in our lives or in Hawking's. In his case, time is vital and essential at both a personal level (he was supposed to have died many years ago) and at a more fundamental conceptual level. And both meet in the same person: Stephen Hawking. Life's short. Knowing we could all die at any time, what would you do? He decided to focus on what's most important: to try to unlock the mysteries of the Universe, while still alive. Nothing less.

Time is precious yet we don't know what it is. And some say it flies...
It reminds me the ancient Greek philosopher Plato who said "Time is the moving image of Eternity". No wonder it is precious.

Hawking's portrait: Time Flies!

Professor Stephen Hawking once said: "All my life I have lived with the threat of an early death, so I hate wasting time." Source: Stephen Hawking: brain could exist outside body
I like this expression "Time Flies" because, it is true! My time for the last year has been so hectic and difficult but who am I to complain? I wished I could have completed the portrait of the author of "A Brief History of Time" sooner but I am afraid it 'll take a bit longer. Luckily I am at this present moment in a better situation for my mind to focus. Of course, not being a scientist, just a layman my approach to these questions is more "intuitive" i.e. "visual".
"What I cannot create I do not understand" said Physicist Richard Feynman as quoted by Hawking in his "The Universe in a Nutshell" book. So this is how I am trying to understand Hawking: by being creative. With a fresher approach I have decided to change its composition (again!) while immersing in the amazing world of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Time is key in this new composition as it is in our lives or in Hawking's. In his case, time is vital and essential at both a personal level (he was supposed to have died many years ago) and at a more fundamental conceptual level. And both meet in the same person: Stephen Hawking. Life's short. Knowing we could all die at any time, what would you do? He decided to focus on what's most important: to try to unlock the mysteries of the Universe, while still alive. Nothing less.

Time is precious yet we don't know what it is. And some say it flies...
It reminds me the ancient Greek philosopher Plato who said "Time is the moving image of Eternity". No wonder it is precious.

My coming portrait of Stephen Hawking

I met Prof. Stephen Hawking in Cambridge (UK) on June 4, 2008 after he kindly agreed with my proposal to do his portrait. I had this project in mind since the time I saw one of his painted portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London : I was appalled (so was he I learned later). It showed him as a "poor handicapped" with a sad grin in front of a scribbled blackboard. It wasn't fair! Hawking is a survivor. Because of his condition he should have died decades ago. Not only didn't he die but he helped revolutionise science! He has become a celebrity but unlike many "famous people" he deserves it. He is an inspiration not only for the handicapped but for those, like myself, who are lucky to be "normal". His muscle paralysis prevents him from doing all what we take as granted. His cheek movements are measured by a device connected to a computer which is how he communicates now: writing 2-3 words a minute, yet he has written best-sellers!
My idea for a fair portrait was that it should induce us with a sense of admiration and respect, not "commiseration". Moreover, a portrait wouldn't be fair if we avoid what has been the center of his entire life: Science. So my idea (and I believe I am the first portraitist attempting this) is to include visually some of his scientific theories and concepts. Most famously is his research on "black holes", the "Big Bang" (with R. Penrose) and his attempt to reconcile the “macrocosmic” laws of Einstein's General relativity (e.g. Time and Space are modified by Strong Gravitational fields) and the “microcosmic” laws of Quantum Mechanics; "Black holes" (as the "singularity" in the Big Bang theory) being the best "place" where such a "reconciliation" would occur. These questions have given rise to many ideas, one of the most promising "Theory of Everything" being the "String Theory".
So, after many attempts I came up with the idea of a monumental portrait (1.5 x 1.2 meters) to give a sense of the magnitude of the phenomena Hawking is dealing with. The backdrop is a famous galaxy whose center, possibly a black hole, dents locally the canvas (as a "brane") of the painting and hereby affects our immediate reality (represented by Big Ben whose time is modified by the Black hole/Galaxy).
Hawking's face appears, partly hidden, with an ironic smile. Reading his books helped me to realise that he has a real sense of HUMOUR!

The portrait is half way done and many changes might occur before it is "finalised". It is a creative and therefore very "quantum-like" unpredictable process ;-)

My coming portrait of Stephen Hawking

I met Prof. Stephen Hawking in Cambridge (UK) on June 4, 2008 after he kindly agreed with my proposal to do his portrait. I had this project in mind since the time I saw one of his painted portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London : I was appalled (so was he I learned later). It showed him as a "poor handicapped" with a sad grin in front of a scribbled blackboard. It wasn't fair! Hawking is a survivor. Because of his condition he should have died decades ago. Not only didn't he die but he helped revolutionise science! He has become a celebrity but unlike many "famous people" he deserves it. He is an inspiration not only for the handicapped but for those, like myself, who are lucky to be "normal". His muscle paralysis prevents him from doing all what we take as granted. His cheek movements are measured by a device connected to a computer which is how he communicates now: writing 2-3 words a minute, yet he has written best-sellers!
My idea for a fair portrait was that it should induce us with a sense of admiration and respect, not "commiseration". Moreover, a portrait wouldn't be fair if we avoid what has been the center of his entire life: Science. So my idea (and I believe I am the first portraitist attempting this) is to include visually some of his scientific theories and concepts. Most famously is his research on "black holes", the "Big Bang" (with R. Penrose) and his attempt to reconcile the “macrocosmic” laws of Einstein's General relativity (e.g. Time and Space are modified by Strong Gravitational fields) and the “microcosmic” laws of Quantum Mechanics; "Black holes" (as the "singularity" in the Big Bang theory) being the best "place" where such a "reconciliation" would occur. These questions have given rise to many ideas, one of the most promising "Theory of Everything" being the "String Theory".
So, after many attempts I came up with the idea of a monumental portrait (1.5 x 1.2 meters) to give a sense of the magnitude of the phenomena Hawking is dealing with. The backdrop is a famous galaxy whose center, possibly a black hole, dents locally the canvas (as a "brane") of the painting and hereby affects our immediate reality (represented by Big Ben whose time is modified by the Black hole/Galaxy).
Hawking's face appears, partly hidden, with an ironic smile. Reading his books helped me to realise that he has a real sense of HUMOUR!

The portrait is half way done and many changes might occur before it is "finalised". It is a creative and therefore very "quantum-like" unpredictable process ;-)