Serenity Spectrum is a series of digital animations that adapts the visual language of Color Field painting, as practiced by Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler, into moving imagery. The works use simplified color fields, limited palettes, and an emphasis on color itself as the subject.

A screen emits light, so saturated colors can achieve a luminosity that pigments cannot; this lets the artist make light an integral part of the image rather than relying on external lighting. 

That allows this project to continue a lineage from Color Field painting into the Light and Space movement with artists such as James Turrell, who shifted attention from painted surfaces to light itself. Serenity Spectrum situates itself in that lineage while adding time as an element: rather than presenting static images, these works explore color and light through slow, deliberate movement. Color and light shifting, gathering, and dissolving over time, hopefully extending the contemplative stillness of Color Field painting into a durational, cinematic register.

Technical process

The animations are created in Cinema 4D and rendered with Redshift. Physical shaders and lighting are developed to produce depth and internal luminosity. Forms are animated with a mix of keyframe animation and physical simulation, including soft-body dynamics and particle systems. Final compositing and the soft, hazy finish are produced in Blender and DaVinci Resolve.