The stargazer: Irene Dubrovsky's delicate blend of science and art

When the rhythmic movement of stars meets rough pencil scribbles, tracing those patterns becomes a delicate blend of science and art. While celestial maps unravel the realm of the unknown, these movements across timelines reflects an image of the infinite.

Visual artist Irene Dubrovsky explores this infinitude in her ongoing exhibition (till September 30), ‘La escritura de lo infinito’ - ‘The Script of the Infinite’ in Spanish - at Delhi’s Instituto Cervantes.

Through celestial cartography, the Argentine-Mexican artist blends symbols, diagrams, letters from alphabets and music, mirroring the infinite universe and its transcendence of boundaries. The artworks combine traditional and contemporary techniques - including textile art, videos, paintings and installations.

Her desire to visit India is reflected in her works that use Sanskrit with Spanish as language symbols, highlighting India’s deep-rooted connection with the stars.

“I’ve dreamt of visiting India. I’ve been working on this project for quite some time now. Using letters from the alphabets of Indian languages is symbolic of the connection we feel with the universe. One of the links between India and Mexico is the tradition of keeping our cultures alive. And I have shown it to be so through celestial maps,” she says.

Imageries of infinity

Dubrovsky uses symbols, and letters from alphabets, depicting the presence of a multilingual universe, in almost all her artworks. In ‘Stellar Calender’ , she weaves pieces of paper together to create a satellite image of the Earth. As one part of the paper begins with a symbol, the other ends with the sign of a letter from an alphabet, creating an interwoven imagery of infinity.

In another artwork called the ‘Wheels of Memory’, the artist presents a few giant spherical celestial charts in parts. This work, in its golden hues on a black background, resembles a cinematic version of the wheels of time. It contains several numbers and symbols, marking the positions of stars. It is one of her favourites.

“The origin of the images are maps or charts. In this case, celestial charts and also maps are from the world of contemporary science. So, I use satellites to see the Earth, constellations, and galaxies such as the Milky Way, or the positions of stars and any other kind of celestial objects. It’s an intersection between art and science, and the parts, merging into one another, take the shape of infinity,” she says.

A striking work in the exhibition is an installation of floating disks called the ‘Disks of Stars’. Disks of various sizes hang suspended from the ceiling, as light on it casts a shadow on the wall. Accompanied by sound pieces, one can see static lines etched on the disks in the shadow. Dubrovsky says she has borrowed the lines from an astronomy map. The lines on the disks translate the position of each star. When the Earth moves, each line and light of the stars move along with it.

“The lines are essentially musical notes. Greek philosopher Pythagoras believed that every planet has a number, a note, resonance, vibration, and with the cosmos it forms a kind of symphony. With the right distance ratios from the sun, heavenly bodies made a pleasant ‘music of the spheres’. Here, I turn these maps into a composition. This shows that the universe, with its geometry, language and symbols, has its own mystery and life,”she explains.

A visual representation of different positions of stars across timelines flashes on a screen. Several positions seem to be superimposed on one another in different colours as a musical score plays in the background. “In this digital artwork, if one looks at the centre in the dark, different colours representing different movements at once show what a celestial map essentially looks like,” she says.

Different media

Dubrovsky also pays tribute to the traditional textiles of pre-Hispanic America. She creates contemporary codices on amate paper - produced from the bark of trees - with the (celestial) positions of stars inscribed on it. Dubrovsky, who has exhibited across America, Europe and Asia, hopes to take the show across India.

“Although it’s my first time in India, I have been studying its culture very closely for many years. The country is huge and I feel very close to its local cultures, especially Delhi’s. So, if I had to travel with the exhibition, I would like to do so across the country,” she says.

On her takeaway from the exhibition, the artist says she would like the viewers to connect with the stars. “It will be like connecting two realities, because in many senses, we’re, after all, mirrors of the infinite,” she says with a smile.

At Instituto Cervantes, Hanuman road, Connaught Place, Embassy of Mexico, 10am to 7pm (Monday to Saturday)