Ancient Light

"There is art in the science, and science in the art."
– Marsha Wilcox

EXHIBITION STATEMENT
My father used a sextant for celestial navigation on aircraft carriers in the Navy and on family sailing trips. He taught me to see the constellation pictures, stellar landmarks, and stories in the stars. I’ve loved looking at the night sky all my life. As a child I would lie on the grass, or on a snowbank, and look up into the darkness and wonder what was out there; willing myself with all my might to visit the cosmos – hearing the siren song that has called humanity to look to the heavens since the dawn of time.

World issues, politics, relationships, and even my daily routine, fall into perspective against the awesome spectacles in our own galaxy and the universe beyond. I am small and insignificant yet we are connected to something infinitely larger and timeless, and I feel privileged to see and share these wonders.

Using my telescope as a lens, I capture the ancient light of things that are
     unimaginably old,
          unfathomably distant, and
               incomprehensibly vast.

They are at the same time
     delicate and extremely violent;
          still, and yet constantly changing.

Being born, living, and dying at a cadence as slow as they are vast. Stars, nebulae, and galaxies echo the terrestrial creation we see around us.

Long exposure photography is the only way we can experience these awe-inspiring celestial scenes. Each final photograph is constructed from individual images captured over many tens of hours. It’s not unusual for the final photograph to contain 100 or more frames.

On clear, calm, nights, I head out to image these celestial scenes with pixels painted by ancient light.

There is art in the science, and science in the art.

ARTIST BIO
Marsha Wilcox is a photographic artist and educator based near Boston, Massachusetts. Her work ranges from intricate detail in the terrestrial world to the ancient light of unimaginably old, unfathomably distant, and incomprehensibly vast nebulae and galaxies in the night sky.

She received an MPS from the School of Visual Arts in New York in photography. Also a musician, she holds a Bachelor of Music degree, as well as master’s degrees in Special Education, Behavioral Research, Statistics, and Epidemiology. She earned doctorates in Behavioral Research from Columbia University and in Epidemiology from Harvard. Her post-doctoral fellowship was in Psychiatric Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Wilcox has exhibited widely in galleries, museums and other venues in New England and beyond including the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Fitchburg Art Museum, The Art Center, Three Columns Gallery at Harvard, Boston Convention Center, and the Foley Gallery in NYC. Her work currently appears in the Big Picture Colorado 2025-27. Her images have been published in magazines and books including Art Scope and a collection published by LensWork, among others.

Using telescopes as lenses with dedicated astronomy cameras and specialized filters, Wilcox collects the ancient light of celestial objects. Long exposure photography is the only way we can experience these scenes. In these images, there is art in the science, and science in the art.

Wilcox received a first-place award in astrophotography in the Windows on the Universe exhibition at the Art Center. Her work, “Ancient Light” was a Critical Mass finalist in 2023.

GALLERY PROGRAMMING
Opening Reception:
Wednesday, January 28, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
RSVPs appreciated; click here

Galaxy Walks:
gallery tours with Marsha Wilcox (~one hour long)
Tuesday, February 3, 11:00 AM
Saturday, February 28, 1:00 PM
Thursday, March 5, 11:00 AM
Saturday, March 21, 2:00 PM
RSVPs appreciated; click here

Artist Talk:
(both Marsha Wilcox and Carl Ristaino of Inspirational Jam)
February 21, 2:00 PM, Black Box Theater
RSVPs appreciated; click here