"Electromagnetic Spectrum Diagram" reportedly created by Matt Cole (Vecteezy.com, 'Attribution Required')
Digitally reworked by the author
Abstract
This artistic research explores the creative transformation of the electromagnetic spectrum into visual language, particularly gamma rays. Continuing the previous part of my research developed during my Master's thesis at RUFA, Rome, Italy (2023), the present-day work expands the focus from gamma radiation to a broader engagement with the electromagnetic spectrum. When I started working on these pieces, I did not want to limit the work to a purely scientific explanation of the phenomenon. That approach felt too limited for what I was trying to express. I used colors, rhythm, and space for form in each work. Gamma rays serve as a starting point for considering transformation and inner strength. Works such as "New gamma-ray burst with a white hole," "Visible," and "Mariotti" merge scientific ideas with symbolic narratives.
I have based this work on scientific sources and my experience. I also followed my intuition while examining the relationship between radiation physics and neuroaesthetics. Ultimately, this evolving work demonstrates how artwork can reframe scientific principles. It presents an aesthetic strategy for perceiving the imperceptible.
Aim
This artistic research explores how the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes both seen and invisible frequencies such as gamma rays, microwaves, and radio waves, can be translated into visual form through modern-day blended media practices. Rather than illustrating scientific concepts in a didactic manner, the project seeks to evoke electromagnetic energy's perceptual, emotional, and symbolic dimensions. The study aspires to provide a new creative framework for engaging with unseen forces that structure each herbal phenomenon and internal human state by integrating material experimentation, digital techniques, and theoretical insights from neuroaesthetics, physics, and human psychology.
Introduction
In recent years, the gap between science and art has grown smaller. Artists today are not just observing or representing the visible world. Many are reaching into areas we cannot see or measure directly. One such phenomenon is the electromagnetic spectrum. Though invisible to the naked eye, this spectrum shapes how we apprehend the world.
My artistic outlook arises from a fascination with these invisible energies, especially gamma rays. What began as a preliminary exploration throughout my Master's thesis has become a larger journey. Rather than trying to explain science visually, this work reimagines scientific phenomena via intuition.Each composition features an experiment in perception. Digital tools have become part of the way I think through the work. Using them, I can explore how radiation might feel. The manner is supported through sketchbook development, written reflections, and engagement with scientific literature.At its core, this research is animated by key questions: Can power be translated into emotion? Can invisible radiation find visibility through visible form? Can artwork offer access not only to data but also to experience? The following chapters present this research's conceptual roots, methodological approaches, and visible consequences.
Literature Review
Art and science have always overlapped, especially in how both fields think about perception, light, and energy. James Turrell and Olafur Eliasson are well-known for this shift. Turrell builds spaces that don't behave the way we expect. Eliasson's installations use color, reflection, and natural elements to explore how forces shape emotional and environmental awareness (Guggenheim Museum, 2015). Scientific texts provide the basis for understanding electromagnetic behavior. Works such as Griffiths's Introduction to Electrodynamics (2024) and Born & Wolf's Principles of Optics (2000) offer insight into the nature of light.
Neuroaesthetic research adds an important dimension. For example, Semir Zeki (1999) studied how the brain responds to symmetry and color. Margaret Livingstone (2004) showed how changes in contrast and color could trigger emotional reactions. Stephen Wilson (2019) emphasized how scientific data can be translated into visual language. Charlie Gere (2010) highlights how artists convert invisible forces into artistic forms. Astrophysical studies, such as Zhang et al.'s Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era (2019) and Smith et al.'s Gamma-Ray Advances in Astronomy (2018), describe gamma-ray bursts as among the most powerful events in the universe.
Few sources examine how visual art might respond to spectral energy through material, form, and meaning. My research addresses this gap. The literature shows that the relationship between energy, perception, and form is fertile and underexplored.
Methodology
This research is grounded in a practice-based artistic methodology. The aim is to transform invisible electromagnetic energy into perceptible visual language through a reflective studio process. This process does not follow a straight line. It moves in loops, thinking, making, and stepping back. The question guides each step: How can forces we cannot see still move us emotionally or shape our perceptions? I have tried to understand this by working through different methods, including:
- Mixed media painting combines acrylic materials with overlays.
- Oil-infused texturing is used in transitional phases between physical and digital stages, as in Coded Bar.
- Digital rendering is applied to modulate gradients, transparency, and contrasts.
- Standalone painting, exemplified in Mariotti, where acrylic on canvas was used.
- Journals and notes document sketching and mapping.
As I worked, I returned to Zeki (1999), Livingstone (2004), and Griffiths (2024). Their research helped me think through how we perceive light and how forces might be felt. What mattered was how this process connected to the emotional side. Emotions are suggested through unstable lines, bold contrasts, or transparencies. Rather than using formal criteria, I look for signs of impact in how the work is experienced through emotional responses or symbolic associations.
Visual Analysis
Part 1
Visual Analysis Part 1 This section is drawn from my Master's thesis, "Influence of Classicism, Impressionism, and Contemporary Arts on My Creativity" (RUFA—Rome University of Fine Arts, 2023). It provides the conceptual ground for my current practice-based exploration into how gamma rays, an invisible form of electromagnetic energy, might be visually interpreted through art.
In the wake of World War II, modern art moved in new and often unexpected directions. Artists began experimenting more freely, questioning traditional boundaries regarding materials and technique and their engagement with the world around them (Stallabrass, 2006, p. 25). Some turned to science not necessarily for answers but for metaphors, processes, and inspiration. I did not initially imagine that gamma radiation and contemporary visual practice could relate. Yet, over time, these seemingly distant fields began to overlap in my thinking. Concepts from radiation physics gradually started to influence how I approach color, space, and surface.
Through color contrasts, layered textures, and shifting compositions, I try to evoke a sense of movement or tension that resonates with the intensity I associate with gamma radiation. Changes in density, abrupt transitions, or hidden layers become ways to suggest what cannot be seen but can still be felt. Gamma rays belong to the most powerful end of the electromagnetic spectrum. Their frequencies are incredibly high, and their short wavelengths can pass through even dense matter. Because they can pass through thick materials, they are widely used in astrophysics and nuclear medicine. In visual art, their unseen power can symbolize change and intensity.
Gamma Ray Illumination: Bridging Art and Science. Scientists working with gamma radiation often deal with things that cannot be directly observed. That feels close to what happens in contemporary art.
The connection between science and art feels real. Both deal with situations without clear answers. I often find myself in that space, trying things out in my work. That is where I see the link: not in the tools we use, but in how we keep searching.
Contemporary art, emphasizing experimentation and boundary-pushing, finds an unexpected ally in gamma-ray research. Both disciplines thrive at the intersection of chaos and structure.
Just as mixed media artists combine diverse materials to create layered meanings, scientists use advanced technologies and methodologies to detect and analyze gamma rays. In this context, my mixed-media works resonate with the expressive intensity of Jackson Pollock's art. There's something direct about the way he uses color. Ai Weiwei's approach is different, but it stayed with me. His ability to turn artistic choices into social questions made me think differently. As Jones and Martinez observe in Gamma Rays Unveiled, such work can serve as a powerful vehicle for public discourse (Jones & Martinez, 2021, p. 142).
Statistics at a Glance: Tracking Gamma Ray Discoveries. I have mainly focused on how artistic movements shaped my approach, but numbers tell their own story. As I looked into gamma-ray research, I found some surprising facts. According to a survey by leading researchers in the field, observations from gamma-ray telescopes have identified more than 3,000 gamma-ray sources that shed light on the energetic processes occurring in galaxies and provide unprecedented glimpses into the most mysterious corners of the universe (Smith, Brown, & Lee, 2018, p. 87).
My works interpret the intensity and energy of gamma radiation through bold color choices, abstract visual elements, and dynamic spatial arrangements. When I paint, I try to make space for things we cannot see that exist beyond the range of ordinary vision. Due to their powerful nature and extremely short wavelengths, gamma rays interact strongly with organic and inorganic matter. These characteristics make them essential in medical and scientific fields and as conceptual tools for visual artists interested in the deeper forces shaping the physical world.
Figure 18: “New Gamma-Ray Burst with a White Hole”
Mixed digital artwork, 2023, Rome, Italy
Artist | Researcher | Fine Arts Lecturer: Babak Abdullayev
Associated EM Region: Gamma Rays (≥10²⁰ Hz, ≤10 pm)
In one of my recent works, I combined the image of an ancient Roman structure with the idea of gamma radiation. I was curious about what might happen when classical architecture met high-energy radiation. In this context, they felt like a symbol of change that could pass through time and matter. By setting this against Roman architecture's solid, grounded form, I wanted to reflect on how the past and present might speak to each other through form and energy.
Figure 19: “ . ” (Roman Fusion)”
Mixed digital artwork, 2023, Rome, Italy
Artist | Researcher | Fine Arts Lecturer: Babak Abdullayev
Associated EM Region: Gamma Rays (≥10²⁰ Hz, ≤10 pm)
In this piece, I imagined a Roman structure, something substantial and rooted in the past, lit from within by a strange, unnatural glow. I was not trying to recreate history. I asked what happens when we let something ancient meet something invisible and intense.
As I worked on it, I started thinking less about architecture and more about people. Solid forms can carry pressure. The image began to feel like a metaphor for how we hold tension and grow. Even things that seem permanent are not fixed forever.
Around the same time, I discovered research by Dr. Benjamin Hughes, who studies gamma radiation. One part that stayed with me was how these waves move through space, cutting across galaxies and interacting with matter we will never touch. That scale felt overwhelming but also grounding.
I also read about gamma-ray bursts. Zhang, Chen, and Liu (2019) describe them as short flashes from far-off galaxies. Something about that light from something long gone, still arriving, made me pause. It reminded me how art, too, can carry signals from deep within or far away. It is trying to stay close to it to let it affect how I see, choose, and paint. That is where the work lives now: somewhere between data and feeling, between cosmic events and the quiet space of the studio.
Figure 20: “Mariotti”
Acrylic on special historical canvas, 62 × 191 cm, 2023, Rome, Italy
Artist | Researcher | Fine Arts Lecturer: Babak Abdullayev
Associated EM Regions: Visible Light, Ultraviolet, Partial X-ray
Electromagnetic Resonance in Visible to X-ray Frequencies
In the context of the current artistic research, this work is reinterpreted through the lens of the electromagnetic spectrum, focusing on how color, rhythm, and form can conceptually echo the behavior of energetic frequencies. The composition is built upon long, layered lines that move horizontally across architectural elements and sky, many forming wave-like structures with shifting curvature. While working on this piece, I noticed that the lines began to take on a right, repeated, and almost vibrating rhythm. It reminded me of how certain types of energy move, especially in the ultraviolet or X-ray parts of the spectrum. Unlike gamma radiation, which is often linked to explosive bursts or fragmentation, the rhythm here is more stable yet intense, suggesting contained energy rather than an eruption.
In this work, I found myself returning to blues, calm, steady, and quiet, and placing them against bursts of ochre and yellow. I was not thinking about theory then, but later, I realized that the contrast was doing something more profound. It became a way to hint at that shift from visible light into something more substantial and less familiar. The wave patterns drawn across the restaurant walls resemble modulated energy fields, conceptually referencing the invisible presence of frequencies vibrating beneath ordinary experience.
By embedding electromagnetic-like waveforms into a classical Roman setting, the artwork presents a conceptual fusion of past and present, material form, and radiant force. In this case, the painting becomes a way to think about how built spaces and things we live with daily might hold traces of energies we do not usually notice. It is not about explaining it but about suggesting that presence in a more felt, poetic way. Thus, while the painting was initially conceived as part of my café series exploring atmosphere, culture, and imagination in Rome, it also lends itself naturally to this expanded investigation. Viewed through electromagnetic aesthetics, Mariotti becomes an evocative example of how visual art can translate non-visible scientific phenomena into emotionally charged, perceptually rich experiences.
Part 2
Figure 1: “Visible” – Portrait Immersion in the Light Spectrum
Mixed digital artwork, 2023, Rome, Italy
Artist | Researcher | Fine Arts Lecturer: Babak Abdullayev
Associated EM Region: Visible Light (400–700 nm)
This digital portrait, titled Visible, conceptually and formally aligns with the visible light region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Dominated by vibrant yellows, reflective purples, and ethereal whites, the artwork radiates within the 400–700 nm range, the segment of light perceptible to the human eye. In this painting, I used swirling white lines that reminded me of how light might move not as a diagram but as a feeling. The yellow-gold areas brought in a warmth I associate with sunlight, though that was not planned initially. It just felt right.
The portrait itself is quiet. The figure’s gaze is turned downward, and I try to keep the face soft, not overly defined. That choice had more to do with mood than with accuracy. That is where visibility shifts: sometimes it is about light, sometimes about recognizing something internal. The piece became, for me, a way to think about quiet strength, not the loud kind, but something more gradual and personal. From a technical standpoint, the work explores the interaction between form and frequency through rhythmic layering, semi-transparent digital brushwork, and controlled contrast. The circular motion present in the background echoes the wave patterns found in diagrams of visible light within the electromagnetic spectrum.
The viewer experiences not just an image but a frequency oscillating between vulnerability and resilience. Just as visible light reveals physical objects in space, Visible reveals emotional states through color, gesture, and spectral resonance. This piece extends the logic of visualizing radiation-based phenomena through aesthetic language, transitioning from previous works' high-energy interpretations of gamma radiation to the perceptual threshold of light itself.
Figure 2: “Coded Bar” – Thermal Traces and Social Frequencies
Mixed digital artwork, 2023, Rome, Italy
Artist | Researcher | Fine Arts Lecturer: Babak Abdullayev
Associated EM Region: Infrared (~700 nm–1 mm), Microwave
Coded Bar explores the energetic quality of social interaction by portraying a bustling café through spiral forms and warm color tones. The palette, dominated by orange, amber, and reddish-brown with soft blues, aligns with the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, commonly associated with thermal presence.
As I painted, the spirals began to feel like signs of quiet movement, almost like warmth in the air. They reminded me of those infrared images that capture body heat, making the whole scene feel more alive. The rounded shapes also brought to mind the smooth waves of microwave energy. I was not thinking about it at first, but later, I saw how this quiet energy felt present, even if invisible. It made the café feel full, not just with people, but with unspoken connections. Coded Bar visualizes emotion and shared atmosphere through repeated marks and shifting lines without relying on direct depiction. It invites viewers to sense the warmth and quiet signals that shape our spaces. This work continues my effort to connect electromagnetic frequencies with lived experience, visually reflecting hidden energies within ordinary moments.
Figure 3: “Untitled” – Spectral Density in X-ray Frequencies
Digital artwork, 2023, Rome, Italy
Artist | Researcher | Fine Arts Lecturer: Babak Abdullayev
Associated EM Region: X-ray (~0.01–10 nm)
This piece, which I left untitled, reminded me of X-rays as I worked on it. The cool blue tones and circular layers felt like seeing beneath the surface. I was not trying to mimic medical scans, but how the forms overlapped gave me a sense of looking inward.
As I added more detail, the lines seemed to break and rebuild the form simultaneously. It felt like searching for something more profound, not just in the image but in emotion. The dense structure in the center became a focal point, and the surrounding energy suggested movement. I tried to echo the depth and intensity I associate with X-ray frequencies using high-contrast layering and circular motion. The work began to feel like a portrait, not of a face but of an inner condition. In this sense, X-rays became more than a scientific tool. They became a way to express how we sense things that are hidden but deeply present.
Figure 4: “Magic” – Radiowave Resonance and Ultraviolet Interference
Digital artwork, 2023, Rome, Italy
Artist | Researcher | Fine Arts Lecturer: Babak Abdullayev
Associated EM Regions: Radio Waves (~1 mm–1 m), Ultraviolet (100–400 nm)
This artwork, titled Magic, presents an energetic intersection of waveforms and frequencies that conceptually bridges the radio and ultraviolet zones of the electromagnetic spectrum. The large golden circles suggest the propagation patterns of radio waves, extending outward with a steady rhythm and implying that the figure emits a silent inner signal.
In the top part of the painting, I used sharp white marks and strong linear textures that felt intense, like something flickering just out of reach. Later, I thought of ultraviolet light as high in frequency, invisible, and influential. The visual tension brought by this association became central to the composition. The color choices teal, gold, violet, and bright white came in intuitively. Once the painting was finished, I noticed how the overlapping colors and shapes created visual tension, hinting at hidden layers of perception. From a research perspective, this piece extends my ongoing interest in how segments of the electromagnetic spectrum can take visual form through artistic language. While working on this composition, I sensed two contrasting energies: quiet, steady waves like radio hums and sharper movements evoking ultraviolet intensity. That contrast made me reflect on how we often feel things we cannot see. This piece demonstrates the project's core aim: transforming unseen energy into felt, visual experience.
Discussion
For example, in a New Gamma-Ray Burst with a White Hole, the intensity of gamma radiation is conveyed through compositional compression and luminous contrast. At the same time, in Coded Bar, thermal energy is interpreted through swirling spiral motifs and chromatic warmth. In Mariotti, rhythmic horizontal lines suggest wave-like movements in X-ray and ultraviolet frequencies. The viewer does not see scientific diagrams but encounters visual forms that simulate the feeling and structure of those forces. Theoretically, this process draws on the principles of neuroaesthetics, particularly Zeki’s (1999) proposition that the brain finds reward in visual ambiguity and perceptual challenge. Livingstone (2004) highlights how contrasting colors and perceptual tension can influence how we experience visual art. In works like Visible, these ideas take shape through overlapping light layers that stimulate emotional and psychological responses. Such perspectives support the view that perception is shaped by what we see and our feelings, thoughts, and interpretations. Through this lens, electromagnetic radiation is not an object of inquiry but an experienced material activated in the space between artwork and viewer. Importantly, this work also repositions high-energy frequencies like gamma rays from their common associations with destruction toward more expansive meanings. In works such as Untitled (Roman Fusion), gamma radiation becomes a metaphor for historical continuity and spiritual transformation. This reframing opens pathways for the reinterpretation of energy and how energy interacts with memory, architecture, and inner states of being.
Conclusion
This research has examined the aesthetic potential of electromagnetic radiation, particularly gamma rays and their adjacent frequencies, through the lens of contemporary mixed media art. By approaching these energies not as scientific abstractions but as metaphors for emotional intensity, perception, and transformation, the project reframes invisible phenomena into sensorial and symbolic visual experiences. From the thermal spirals of Coded Bar to the X-ray-inspired layering in Untitled and the radio wave luminosity of Magic, each piece transforms the imperceptible into a felt aesthetic language. Using ideas from neuroaesthetics, phenomenology, and visual psychology, this research shows that emotional resonance can be a valid way of knowing that helps uncover, not just represent, the hidden forces shaping our environment. It contributes to interdisciplinary conversations by highlighting how artistic practices can deepen public engagement with complex scientific concepts, not by simplifying them but by opening emotional and metaphorical access points. This body of work remains intentionally open-ended as a practice-led, ongoing exploration. In the following stages of my work, I aim to explore other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, like submillimeter waves and the cosmic background, to continue developing how art can connect with the science of radiation and human ways of sensing and understanding. Ultimately, Visualizing the Invisible seeks to establish a new aesthetic vocabulary for understanding energy and a poetic language of perception in which light, frequency, and emotion are inseparable.
Positioning Within Contemporary Artistic Research
While numerous contemporary artists have investigated light, perception, or specific segments of the electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light or infrared, this research sets itself apart through a sustained, practice-based engagement with the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including its invisible frequencies such as gamma rays, microwaves, and radio waves. To the best of my knowledge, as of 2025, I am the first visual artist to construct a cohesive and methodologically informed body of work that translates the whole electromagnetic spectrum into visual form. It is part of a longer creative path. I plan to keep working, try out new ideas, and consider how recent scientific and technological developments might shape my future pieces. There is still much to explore, and I want the work to grow naturally over time.
Bibliography
- Eliasson, O. (2015). Reality machines [Exhibition catalog]. Guggenheim Museum Archives.
- Gere, C. (2010). Digital culture (2nd ed.). Reaktion Books.
- Jones, H., & Martinez, A. (2021). Gamma rays unveiled: Bridging science and art. Spectrum Arts.
- Livingstone, M. (2004). Vision and art: The biology of seeing. Harry N. Abrams.
- Smith, A. B., Brown, D., & Lee, C. (2018). Gamma astronomy updates. Journal of High-Energy Astrophysics, 21(3), 211–230.
- Stallabrass, J. (2006). Contemporary art: A concise introduction. Oxford University Press.
- Turrell, J. (n.d.). Works and ideas. Retrieved June 14, 2025, from https://jamesturrell.com
- Matt Cole (n.d.). Science electromagnetic spectrum diagram. Vecteezy. https://www.vecteezy.com/