Ad Lucem

“Lightyear 2026” opens with “Ad Lucem” (To the Light) – an artistic and scientific collaboration between artist Cecilia Ömalm and professor of astronomy Göran Östlin – a project that beautifully unites art and science in an exploration of how light from distant galaxies connects us across time and space.

Experience captivating, deep-blue photographic works created with cyanotype – a unique technique invented by astronomer John Herschel, where iron salts mixed to result in UV-sensitive solutions, and sunlight combine to form images in characteristic shades of blue.

Ömalm and Östlin recreate the light of the Universe using both historical glass plate negatives and modern digital image sensors. Each work is hand-printed, and when sunlight develops these celestial images, it becomes a poetic act – a rebirth of light from the same sky the telescopes once pointed toward.

“Ad Lucem” at the Round Tower marks the duo’s largest solo exhibition to date, featuring 40 works – including a new piece inspired by Ole Rømer’s groundbreaking measurements of the speed of light – presented in a design that mirrors the tower’s shape and evokes the atmosphere of an observatory.

Thank you to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Observatoire de Paris for allowing the use of their old photographic negatives.

Cecilia Ömalm (b. 1974) is a Stockholm-based visual artist educated at the International Center of Photography in New York. She has been working with cyanotypes for the past 10 years and has developed a method for printing modern glass negatives that she uses to create larger works. In addition to the cyanotypic method, she prints on fabric, enamel, aluminum, and concrete, and uses light and sculpture in exhibitions and public spaces. Her art is linked to spatiality, architecture, and time and is often presented in large-scale installations. Ömalm is represented in institutions such as the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Swedish National Public Art Council, Stockholm Konst, Västerås Konstmuseum, as well as in private Swedish and international collections. 

Göran Östlin (b. 1968) is a professor of astronomy at Stockholm University, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the chairman of its class for astronomy and space science. His research focuses on the origin and development of galaxies, and he uses observations from some of the most powerful observatories on Earth and in space, including the Very Large Telescope in Chile and the Hubble Space Telescope. He is the Swedish leader of the international consortium that built the MIRI camera for the new James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched on Christmas Day in 2021.

Follow the duo here:

www.omalmostlin.com
instagram.com/omalmostlin