UC Fine Arts Faculty Member Exhibits Work thru Jan. 7

Kim Burleigh, professor of fine arts at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), is one of three artists currently showing work in an exhibit titled “Hetero-Types: Science in Contemporary Art-Making.” The purpose of the exhibit is to explore the connections between technology, science and art. Exhibiting with Burleigh are Caren Alpert of San Francisco and David Tinapple of Arizona.

The play of light in the series of six oil paintings Burleigh displays echo the play of light caused by sunlight and ripples on the bottom of a swimming pool. (The light patterns are called caustics.)

Burleigh creates a similar visual sensation with her paintings, though each of the works began with an initial exploration of fluid properties by means of 3-D animation and computer software in order to analyze aspects of fluids and light.

She explained, “To begin, I formed a virtual fluid surface in the computer using a high-end 3-D modeling program and then created ripples in the surface by perturbing it with invisible objects. I cast a light on the fluid which created refracted patterns. I then created a recording of this virtual fluid body model by applying oil paint on canvas using many glazes of transparent pigments to achieve the desired effect. My intent is to create an image of beautiful light patterns with an undertow of the sinister.”

She states, “This current series of paintings is the most abstract work I’ve ever done. In terms of process, this is a meditative creative endeavor. It requires a long time and a significant period of quiet to build the layers of paint and glaze, and it’s very satisfying in the end, as the paintings glow as if there is light coming out of the pigments.”

Prairie Gallery

, located at 4035 Hamilton Avenue, is free and open to the public Tuesday thru Friday, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. It is open Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

• See more of Burleigh's work.