Remnants of a Supernova
Collaborative project with Edward Rowe for the British Art Medal Society.
2014-15
Copper and tin, the primary elements of the medal’s bronze alloy, are produced in supernovae - the celestial explosions that occurs when a star has exhausted its fuel. Around the edge read the words REMNANTS OF A SUPERNOVA FITTING COMFORTABLY IN THE PALM. On one side there is inscribed the chemical formula of the bronze used, CuSn4, on the other an impression of the palm of a hand. It rests in the hand as tangible evidence of an astronomical phenomenon of a scale beyond human comprehension. The handprint is a record of something acutely personal to one human at one particular moment, made from elements that have been recycled throughout time and space.