Deep Blue

by Dana Plesa

What can I say, I like blue!

Blue is viewed as a spiritual colour; it is a symbol of fidelity and trust. Recently, in the English language, blue has been adopted as the colour of sadness (“to feel blue”). Because the colour blue has many historical ties, I created this collection.

In order to understand colour, it is important to know that colour is a form of visible light, which is electromagnetic energy. Electromagnetic energy is the energy reflected or emitted from objects in the form of electrical and magnetic waves that can travel through space. Electromagnetic (EM) radiation spectrum includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet (UV) light, X-ray and gamma-ray.

Most of the natural UV radiation comes from the sun – suntans are the result of the body’s natural defense mechanism against the sun’s UV radiation. When the skin’s ability to produce protective melanin is overwhelmed, you get sunburn.

In chemistry, there are many substances –named fluorophore – that can absorb UV radiation by causing electrons in the substance to jump to a higher level of energy, and then drop back to a lower energy state while emitting a portion of the absorbed energy as visible light. The emitted light makes them appear brighter.

Most of the blue luminescence of living organisms occurs in marine life. These fascinating creatures were the source of my inspiration for the  “Blue Deep” collection. I used fluorophore pigments to create “creatures” that look like marine organisms.