In Stellar·Magnitude, Francisca Snel explores the vulnerability of darkness and the way our perception of light is shaped by our surroundings. The series originated from her move from Rotterdam to rural Friesland, where the transition from the illuminated city to a much darker landscape made the effects of light pollution suddenly tangible.
The title refers to the astronomical magnitude scale used to describe the apparent brightness of stars. What we are able to see depends not only on the brightness of a star, but also on our position, atmospheric conditions and the amount of artificial light surrounding us. As our environments become increasingly illuminated, stars quite literally disappear from view.
Snel builds her glass sculptures from layers of transparent and coloured glass, incorporating fragments of metals such as copper and silver. Suspended within the glass, these elements can resemble lines, traces or fragments of an unknown celestial body. At the same time, the metals refer to the infrastructure behind artificial light: conductivity, electricity and technology.
Through glass, colour and metal, Stellar·Magnitude makes visible the tension between illumination and darkness, and asks what becomes invisible when there is too much light.