Apophatic Art Practice and Research

Connecting with the ineffable in times of flattening

Contributors Project / Editorial Team
  • Merel Visse
  • William Franke
  • Ryan Woodring
  • Béatrice Machet
  • Sarah Travis
  • Enaiê Azambuja
  • Sarah Tarkany
  • Peter Kline
  • Kythe Heller
  • Cailtin Gilson
  • Chelle Stearns

Diana Rojas

Query v2

Query v2 is a single channel audiovisual work adapted from its planetarium counterpart. This piece utilizes abstracted imagery of the cosmos, specifically rings of light which form as a result of gravitational lensing an occurrence observed when a massive body existing in spacetime, such as galaxy clusters or black holes, causes a curvature in spacetime resulting in the light around the mass to bend. Drawing its title from Isaac Newton’s Opticks, in which Newton wrote about gravity, light and God, Query v2 serves as a reminder of the distance between humanity, the invisible, and the immense.

Subject to the Immaterial

Subject to the Immaterial was completed during Rojas’ participation in Sweet Pass Sculpture Park’s Spring Residency. This work explores halos of light as indicators of significance in nature and mythologies. Low frequency sounds fill the installation space creating sounds that are felt, not heard.

Surveying the Messenger 1 & 2

Surveying the Messenger 1 and 2 are digital prints combining 3D models, found and AI generated diagrams that explore the relationship between sciences, myths, and technologies. Historical and AI generated depictions of spacecraft and angels reveal roles of messengers of information in myths and space exploration technology to explore the relationship between reality, image, diagram, and human knowledge.

Diana Rojas is an artist and researcher investigating human attempts to engage with the invisible and immense through the creation of encounters between sensing and knowing. Informed by her interests in philosophy, history, physics, and material science, she approaches the role of technology in art making as the catalyst for larger conversations of existence, consciousness, and metaphysics. Her work has been exhibited, screened, and published nationally and internationally in spaces such as: Czong Institute of Contemporary Art, Fiesp Cultural Center, Dallas Contemporary, Chapel of Santa Maria dei Carcarati, Canyon Flats Video Wall, Rockport Center for the Arts, Texas Theater, the Yale Theater, and more. She is the recipient of several OER Grants from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the 2023 Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund Award, 2022 Judson-Morrisey Excellence in New Media Award and the Arrowmont Windgate University Fellowship. Diana was born in Mexico, received her MFA from the University of North Texas, and is an Assistant Professor of Sound Art at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Query v2 (2024) HD Video. Subject to the Immaterial (2023) acrylic, sand, glass.
Surveying the Messenger (2026) lightbox, digital print.