FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Polage Art & Austine Wood Comarow

There are no colors in the raw materials, just as there is no color in a prism. It is only the interaction of light that is polarized passing through the molecules of “optically active” (birefringent) materials such as cellophane. Linear polarized light beams are all vibrating in parallel. When a polarized beam enters a cellulose molecule, part of the energy of the beam rotates. But, when light travels through such an optically active material, The energy vibrating on one direction travels through the molecule faster than the energy vibrating in a different direction. These portions of the light beam interfere with each other and create elliptically polarized light. This light appears colorless when viewed with the naked eye, but when viewed through a linear polarizing filter, such as polarized sunglasses, appears to have a color. That color shifts as the polarizer is rotated.

I rarely think about the physics of the materials I use any more than a painter thinks about the chemistry of paints. But many scientists and engineers are fascinated with my work and have become avid collectors. Some physics departments have bought my art to demonstrate principles of light. For an example, for an advanced discussion of the physics of my art, please read an article by Donald H. Lyons, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts.