Borrowed Light, 2024

From the early history of astro-photography to the discovery of light bending around strong gravitational forces to create extraordinary lensing effects, the observation of light is at the heart of astronomy. Much of Devasher’s work looks at the history of observation and the methods and materials that have been employed in the field, both in the past and today. In particular, she has been looking at the work of historian of science Omar W. Nasim, whose book Observing by Hand – Sketching the Nebulae in the Nineteenth Century (2013) states:

“Observation is not about looking harder or more transparently. Neither is it only a matter of looking with the eyes alone. It is also a matter of recording, ordering, processing, and preparing. Certain practices of recording—namely sketching by hand—helped observers see more and differently.” - Omar W. Nasin

May and June are Milky Way season in the Southern Hemisphere. Devasher’s voyage on the Pacific Ocean as part of the Owner’s Cabin residency during this time meant that every night the Milky Way arched overhead. In addition, when navigating at night, to preserve night vision while on lookout, the ship’s lights are dimmed, and the bridge crew works by red light. The result is stunning dark skies. Every night, she documented the night sky blazing with stars that those of us in cities no longer see. 

Borrowed Light asks us to think about the ways in which astronomers use the objects we can see to understand the ones we cannot, such as dark energy and dark matter. For Devasher, this series is a way to look deeper and allow new vocabularies of mark making and possibly meaning to emerge. Marked with signs and unclear coordinates, these are alternative maps of the light of the skies and stars as she saw them.