Reflections of the Beginning
BRIANNA BLANCHARD
February 25th, 2026
Major: Environmental Public Health
Genre/Medium: Oil painting on canvas
About the Work:
Reflections of the Beginning is an oil painting on a 20” by 16” stretched canvas. It invites viewers to contemplate how exploration and looking outward into space can also help humans look inward at our own origins. Diving deeper into the background, it is theorized that Psyche is a metal-rich asteroid and also the core of a protoplanet that might have been destroyed during the formation of the solar system. Considering this, studying it has the potential to help researchers better understand how planets form. This mission offers a rare opportunity to think more intentionally about Earth’s own core and how our planet might’ve come to be.
In terms of its composition, the piece depicts a calm and quiet shoreline just before the moment of sunrise, with the water being rather still. Hovering above the surface of the water is an ornate gold mirror, with its “reflection” not showing the worldly scene in front of it, but instead, revealing the Psyche asteroid in space through a portal. Aside from the mirror motif, water and a compass play symbolic roles. Read more…
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