The concept relates to our relationship with the Moon - both the geological otherness and the human experience of the rock’s collection. Imagine this boulder chunk was snapped off into an astronaut’s gloved hand after millions of years of stillness. Whatever science can gather from studying its makeup, most compelling is the human experience with the mysterious surface of a beloved cosmic neighbour. Flesh and bone encounter a celestial enigma, thus creating new mythologies. The bronze cast Moon rock (collected on the 1972 Apollo 17 mission) was moulded from a digital 3D NASA file and placed in the dip of the collapsed blown glass form.
Lisa Pettibone is a UK based, California-born visual artist working in sculpture, installation and print. Interested in natural forces such as gravity and tension her work explores the evolution of form and responds to concepts related to physics, astronomy and philosophy. Natural phenomena, when filtered through human perception, can open new meaning through a contrast of materials and ideas. Processes incorporate research into scientific theories, collaboration or site-specific work. An experienced glass sculptor, Lisa combines its lustrous qualities with fabric, metal or wood to create sensory rich artworks.
In 2018-2019 she was artist in residence at Mullard Space Science Laboratory (UCL London) where she studied ESA's Euclid Mission, a space telescope exploring the nature of dark matter in the universe. Her collaborative artwork Fingertip Galaxy (made with over 250 scientists) launched onboard the spacecraft in 2023. Her microgravity sculpture was included in Moon Gallery Foundation's first gallery in space on board the ISS for 11months in 2022. She has an MA in Art and Science from Central Saint Martins London and is an elected member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. She exhibits and teaches internationally and is the recipient of three Arts Council England Lottery Grants.