Description
‘Crab Nebula’ by Laura Thipphawong
Artist: Laura Thipphawong
Title: ‘Crab Nebula’
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 24″ x 24″ x 1.5″
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2024
About the Artwork:
“Crab Nebula is part of my series called Terra Incognita, a subversive exploration of anthropocentrism throughout cultural history, in celebration of the unknown and uncontrollable elements within the natural world. Themes of biodiversity, extinction and extirpation, resiliency, and interconnectedness are used in this series to evoke a sense of the fantastical and absurd contrasted with child-like wonder, and are informed by studies in the history of naturalism and people’s relationship to animals and nature, specifically as allegorical and symbolic figures meant to illuminate an understanding of ourselves.
The Crab Nebula is one of the most well-known remains of a supernova, known to have been discovered in 1054. The name of the nebula came from a sort of Rorschachian interpretation by William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, and an astronomer, who drew the nebula based on the image perceived through his telescope in 1844. Lord Rosse thought that it resembled the body and legs of a crustacean.
I find the symbolism of the crab to be a perfect fit for a celestial body, especially a supernova, as the crab is often intuitively representative of adaptability, personal evolution, and transformation through growth.” – Laura Thipphawong
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
Laura Thipphawong is a Canadian artist, writer, and historian, and has exhibited art and presented her research throughout several galleries and international academic forums. Laura made her way from a small town in northern Ontario to Toronto to pursue a career in the arts, and now holds a medal and a Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Critical studies from OCAD University, and a Master of Arts in Art History from the University of Toronto. Her studio practice in oil painting and drawing is representative of her research on the complex narrative symbolism of the psyche in response to various social and emotional factors, with focus on sexuality, horror, folklore, literature, and natural science.