ORBITAL THEORY
Mother and Babe Orbit (with running stitch); 2021, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
These archival inkjet prints, first exhibited with the Katherine Johnson Dress at Cityscape Gallery, combine the visual languages of orbital mechanics, domestic dressmaking, and images selected from my own photographic archive.
What is the connection between celestial mechanics and the domestic sphere? Just as neighbouring planets alter each other’s trajectories on a cosmic scale over millennia, people’s existential ‘orbital paths’ are, both directly and indirectly, influenced by each other’s - sometimes subtly, sometimes profoundly, certainly over a lifetime, and often over generations. I invite viewers to interpret for themselves the relationship between the indistinct figures in the photographs and the precise mathematical diagrams that are partnered with them.
All the graphs and diagrams in the prints are from the textbook Theory of Orbits(by Victor Szebehely) published in 1967 - a resource that Katherine Johnson might very well have referenced during the many years she worked at NASA.
Beach Orbit (with thread and sewing pins); 2021, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Family in Orbit (with buttons); 2021, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Coming of Age Orbit (with sewing guides); 2022, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Wedding Orbit (with running stitch); 2021, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Girl in Orbit (with zigzag stitch); 2021, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Glacier Madness Orbit (with running stitch); 2022, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Team Orbit (with herringbone stitch); 2022, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Father and Son Orbit (with thread and safety pin); 2022, archival inkjet print; 8 x 8.25 inches
Photo by Mandana Rostami
Copyright © 2022 Catherine M. Stewart. All rights reserved.