Artists and scientists share a curiosity and a desire to discover, as well as a wish to look beyond appearances. Both are explorers, with different languages and tools.

There is a beauty in numbers and equations that reveals itself to those who learn to understand their meaning. Some artists can approach this language and share something of that beauty through forms and colors. Roman Lipski is one of them.

His journey into the quantum world led him to NCCR SPIN’s QuantArt Bridge artist residency, created to build bridges between art and science through the shared work of artists and researchers. The exhibitions Unusual Phase and Quantum Qualia tell the story of this journey and the mark it has left on his painting.

Roman allowed himself to be inspired by research and, in turn, inspired young scientists. Their encounter with him drew them towards communicating science through art. They shared their knowledge with Roman, opening themselves to the possibility of seeing it through different eyes.

Roman also wanted to find his way into the mathematical language of quantum physics. He began studying it with passion, giving time to what was unfamiliar to him. He accepted the need to pause before something difficult, to learn. He wanted to take on its complexity and the effort it demanded, to discover its beauty.

This experience took shape in his paintings.

In Unusual Phase, Roman finds in quantum physics a freedom that enters his way of painting. That world, so difficult to imagine, offers him new possibilities to explore with the tools he has always used: brushes and paint on canvas. His sense of wonder becomes an invitation to let ourselves be surprised, to find in the forms our own way of approaching the unknown.

In Quantum Qualia, even missing atoms become a starting point for exploration: in the Missing Atoms series, emptiness enters the composition and forms gather around an absence.

Roman traveled through this world, keeping alive the pleasure of playing and allowing himself to be surprised. He encountered atoms and electrons through research images and equations. He brought that encounter into painting, giving it color and material form.

Standing before his works, we too can come closer to something of that world. Feel its beauty, even before we understand it.

By Marilena Longobardi

Executive Director, NCCR SPIN
Founder and Artistic Director of QuantArt