Double moonbow

RESEARCH BACKGROUND Luminous World presents a collection of contemporary paintings, photography and sculpture in relation to the ways the phenomenon of light has been considered and utilised by artists. The exhibition follows an intuitive flow of ideas and imagery moving through night to day and artists were chosen for their explorations of light from the perspective of the optical experience, connections between the stars and life on earth and from spiritual points of view. Duxbury's contribution explored representations of atmospheric phenomena and experimented with light and refraction to question perceptions of the natural environment, especially the atmosphere. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION Duxbury created the moonbow, a rarely seen phenomenon of light seen on misty nights under a full moon, from her photograph of a full rainbow. Using photographic editing software Duxbury transposed the rainbow into its antithesis the moonbow, seemingly capturing its fugitive light against the blackness of the night sky. The 7-panel framed relief print has a single word silk-screened on each panel that relates to the various weather and astronomical conditions required to create a moonbow. The top of each frame is painted with each colour of a rainbow and produces subtle colour reflections on the wall above the work that is not necessarily seen by all viewers. This work shares this rare event through the innovative use of the print medium that extends beyond the constraints of the frame, and the viewer is encouraged to move in closely to the work to read the text on each panel. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE The exhibition premiered at the Art Gallery of Western Australia and then toured nationally and includes 50 artists from Australia and New Zealand including Lesley Duxbury, Susan Norrie, Bill Henson, David Stephenson and indigenous artists Brook Andrew and Timothy Cook. The accompanying catalogue illustrates the diverse responses to the intangible phenomenon of light in contemporary art.