Albedo

Albedo

Piece description from the artist

Albedo is a technical term indicating the ability of a surface to reflect radiation. It's most often seen in descriptions of astronomical objects. Factors such as vegetation and forestation affect the Earth's albedo. Earth's albedo affects how much radiation and heat are reflected back out into space, and thus plays a role in climate and in maintaining our blue inhabitable planet.

The original has been sold.

In a series on trees as symbols of life and ecological interconnected order, and trees as regulators and indicators of ecological order and well-being, albedo is worth considering.

Albedo was created using acrylic and glass in layers. The background was painted using several layers of short brush strokes and transparent colors. Clear tar gel (also called string gel) was used to pour the tree trunk and branches, and to swirl circular patterns emanating from the tree. Highly fluid silver acrylic paint was rubbed and brushed over the the raised smooth patterns created by the tar gel. The silver paint emphasizes the relief of the surface. Glass lenses and acrylic magnifying mirrors were added for the reflective and light manipulating leaves. They also suggest the reflective property or albedo of trees. Extruded clear and white tinted gel was used for emphasis in a final layer.

Other works by Regina Valluzzi

About Regina Valluzzi

Waltham, MA

Dr. Regina Valluzzi has an extensive scientific background in nanotechnology and biophysics. She has been a scientist in the chemical industry, a green chemistry researcher, a research professor at the engineering school at Tufts, a start-up founder engaged in technology commercialization, and a start-up and commercialization consultant.

Even during periods of intense activity as a scientist, Dr. Valluzzi has always held a strong interest in the visual arts and in visual information. While she majored in Materials Science at MIT, she also obtained a second degree in music and a minor in visual studies. Visual arts have managed to permeate her technical work; during her Ph.D in Polymer Science and Engineering at UMass Amherst, she completed a thesis that required advanced electron microscopy, image analysis, and theoretical data modeling. These experiences provided the visual insight and information that now influences much of her artwork.

Dr. Valluzzi’s work has been included in private collections across the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Dubai and Malta, and in the corporate collection of "Seyfarth Shaw" Boston law offices around Boston. She has a selection of pieces on loan to the MIT Materials Science and Engineering Department as indoor public art. Her accomplishments include having published thirty articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, having made several scientific patents, having been a subject matter expert for an encyclopedia chapter, and having been invited to speak at science talks across the US, Europe, and Japan.

Her newsletter is a good source of ongoing information: http://eepurl.com/daiLQ

See Regina's portfolio here
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