Description
“Cloud Atlas” extends the structural investigation initiated in earlier works, shifting its focus from mass to atmosphere. Where “Gravity” examined the transfer of weight between object and body, this work explores permeability – how light moves through matter while maintaining the same principle of circulation.
Executed on plywood, the natural grain of the wood forms the foundational cartography of the composition. Rather than acting as grounded texture, it resembles aerial topography – wind currents, satellite imagery, shifting cloud systems.
Pigments in mineral turquoise, soft rose, muted gold, and pale blue were layered to create atmospheric gradients. The surface remains materially planar; spatial depth is achieved through optical interaction rather than sculptural relief.
Glass elements – spherical, droplet-like forms – are affixed across the field. They refract and transmit light, altering perception depending on angle and intensity of illumination. These translucent forms behave like condensation or suspended moisture, generating movement without disrupting the structural flatness of the work.
At the center, a hand-sculpted clay mask emerges. Fired and manually finished, the mask does not dominate the surface but appears suspended within it – a presence held inside atmosphere rather than grounded in matter. Subtle gold accents trace energetic lines across the face, reinforcing internal flow rather than ornament.
Asymmetrical Feather compositions function as detachable earrings, continuing the conceptual structure introduced in “Gravity.” The jewelry can be worn and later returned to the mask. When worn, the atmospheric field transfers to the body; when restored, the work regains its compositional equilibrium. The system remains intact in both states.
The frame is not external to the artwork. It is an integral structural component. Tonally aligned with the painted surface, it stabilizes the atmospheric drift within defined boundaries. It contains the movement without interrupting it.
This work does not depend on relief.
It depends on light, circulation, and return.
Artist’s Note
“Cloud Atlas” developed from a desire to explore atmosphere instead of density – while preserving the structural logic established in “Gravity.”
The wood panel suggested lateral motion, like wind mapping invisible routes. Instead of building material depth, I introduced glass droplets as optical devices. They allow light to pass through and shift perception depending on time and viewpoint.
The mask was conceived not as a portrait, but as a state – calm, suspended, internally aligned.
The detachable earrings maintain the same conceptual mechanism: jewelry does not exist separately from the artwork, nor permanently attached to it. It circulates. It moves between wall and body without diminishing the integrity of the whole.
The frame was designed as part of the system. Without it, the atmospheric field would disperse. With it, the structure holds.
The title refers to mapping the invisible.
Clouds cannot be fixed – only observed as they transform.
This is not decoration.
It is a contained system of light, exchange, and return.
Margaret Olympia Rozcosh
Art Gallery Gosha Bu