Space Art "Among the Stars and Angels"

Artist Zigi Ben Haim cretaed this large triptych replete with many symbols that helps remember the lost STS-107. The aluminum panels were constructed to center around the ghostly outline of the Columbia space shuttle. References to the crew are evident including flowers representing Laurel Clarke whose nickname was Flora, the patch and a blurred diary of Ilan Roman, a sign on 74th Street in New York named after Kalpana Chawla. At the far right, 7 stars lie in an arc-like constellation. All of them are the same, except one, the Star of David representing Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut. In place of the astronauts’ faces, the artist employed color to capture the spirit of the person and their soul. Other symbols are evident including the NASA logo, a Texas license plate, an American flag, a blue ribbon representing excellence, Albert Einstein representing scientific knowledge and ants carrying heavy objects and propelling life forward. Triptych mixed media, 54x96. 2006. Copyrighted: For more information contact Curator, NASA Art Program.