PAINTINGS // SYNCHROTRON LIGHT

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This series was inspired by the BESSY II particle accelerator in Berlin, where electrons race at near light speed, generating a particular kind of radiation called synchrotron light. Researchers harness this light to observe how materials react to changes in their environment. In a way, scientists can “see” into solid matter down to the subatomic level.

What if this light could also dissolve the boundaries between time and space? What would it look like to see solid matter as pure energy, freed from the constraints of physical form? These paintings visualise synchrotron light radiating through BESSY II and other historic buildings nearby, revealing not only the structures of matter, but the histories and energies held within them.

Pulse
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
100 × 100 cm
2025

Pulse
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
100 × 100 cm
2025

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This work is based on the cross-section diagram of the BESSY II particle accelerator, portrayed as if being transformed from within by synchrotron radiation.

The image is an homage to light: the light created by electrons, the light emitted by distant stars, and the light generated by the nerve cells in our bodies as they communicate with one another.

Pulse (detail)

Großer Windkanal 1
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
50 x 40 cm
2025

Großer Windkanal 2
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
50 x 40 cm
2025

Großer Windkanal 1 (detail)

Großer Windkanal 2 (detail)

The Evolution of Light, Phases 1 - 4
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
40 x 30 cm each
2025

The Evolution of Light, Phases 1 - 4 (studio view)
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
40 x 30 cm each
2025

The Evolution of Light, Phase 1

The Evolution of Light, Phase 2

The Evolution of Light, Phase 3

The Evolution of Light, Phase 4

Der Trudelturm
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
68 x 50 cm
2023

Trudelturm
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
68 x 50 cm
2023

Kugellabore
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
40 x 50 cm
2023

PAINTINGS // EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPES

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The Emotional Landscapes paintings explore inner experience. Rather than portraying a single emotion, each work captures something more complex: a momentary state in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and sensations coexist.

Working intuitively, I use colour, energetic linework, and symbolic forms to create an atmosphere that extends beyond a specific narrative. These images leave room for viewers to respond through their own perceptions and associations.

Life Cycle
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
40 x 30 cm
2026

Transformation Trilogy: Scorpion
Oil stick and oil pastel on paper
40 x 40 cm
2019

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Transformation Trilogy: Serpent
Oil stick and oil pastel on paper
40 x 40 cm
2019

Transformation Trilogy: Phoenix
Oil stick and oil pastel on paper
40 x 40 cm
2019

PAINTINGS // SANCTUARIES

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The Sanctuaries paintings are spaces of stillness and refuge, where the underwater, cellular, and celestial intertwine. Each image merges impressions of coral reefs, nebulae, and microscopic as well as subatomic life, suggesting that the same forces shaping galaxies also pulse within our bodies.

Created during a period of personal loss and continuing global uncertainty, the images reflect a search for respite from the outside world. They envision radiant havens beyond a specific time or place, inviting viewers to pause and rest.

Sanctuaries: Coral Nebula
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
103 x 125 cm
2025

Sanctuaries 3: Coral Nebula (detail)

Sanctuaries: Silent Encounter
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
103 x 125 cm
2024

Sanctuaries 2: Silent Encounter (detail)

Sanctuaries: Scuba
Acrylic ink, oil stick and oil pastel on canvas
103 x 125 cm
2024

Sanctuaries 1: Scuba (detail)

PAINTINGS // ELECTRON UNIVERSES

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This series is inspired by the BESSY II particle accelerator here in Berlin. Electrons race at near light speed, generating a very specific kind of radiation, called “Synchrotron Light”, as they go. This light is harnessed and used by researchers to observe how materials react to shifts in environmental conditions. In a way, scientists can “see” into solid matter down to the subatomic level.

Yet what scientists actually see is data: numbers, graphs, and tables. I am interested in what the subatomic world might look like if it could be perceived directly with our own eyes. The Electron Universes series explores these invisible and immaterial spaces, imagining forms for what lies beyond the limits of human perception.

Electron Universes: Red Nebula
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Red Nebula
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Private collection

Electron Universes: Kugellabor
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Time Travel
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Ocean’s Depth
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Sea Urchin
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Red Giant
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Red Giant
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Private collection

Electron Universes: Red Dwarf
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Sunburst
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Kelp Forest
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Solar Flare
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Solar Flare
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Private collection

Electron Universes: Nebula
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Deep Space
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Storm Rising
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Dark Matter
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Electron Universes: Dark Matter
Acrylic ink, wax pastel on stone paper mounted on wood
15 x 15 x 3 cm
2024

Private collection

PAINTINGS // JOURNAL ENTRIES

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The Journal Entries series includes torn fragments of my journal pages, rediscovered while unpacking after leaving a long-term relationship. Encountering these words again years later revealed how profoundly our view of past experiences can change with time and distance.

Incorporated into drawings, the fragments become part of something new, transforming memories into reflections on perception, change, and the ways we reconstruct our own histories.

Journal Entries #18 - Big Knäuel
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #3 - Knäuel
Pen on Japanese paper, coloured pencil and wax pastel on sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #1 - Rediscovery
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink on sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #2 - Self-censorship
Pen on Japanese paper, India ink and charcoal on sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #29 - Whirlpool
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #15 - Heavy
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #9 - Balloons
Pen on Japanese paper, wax pastel on sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #4 - Stupid pink bubbles bursting
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, coloured pencil on sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #14 - lonely
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #12 - breathe
Acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #13 - ocean
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #26 - Outside Inside
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and wax pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #31 - no flame
Pen on notebook paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #8 - not okay
Pen on notebook paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #5 - Swamp Grenade
Pen on Japanese paper, acrylic ink and oil pastel on stone paper, graphite on sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #19 - Message in a bottle
Acrylic ink and oil pastel on stone paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #24 - Erased histories
Pen and oil pastel on Japanese paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #25 - Erased histories
Pen and oil pastel on Japanese paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #23 - Erased histories
Pen and oil pastel on Japanese paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #22 - Erased histories
Pen and oil pastel on Japanese paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #21 - Erased histories
Pen and oil pastel on Japanese paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Journal Entries #20 - Erased histories
Pen and oil pastel on Japanese paper, sketchbook paper
40 cm x 30 cm
2020

Sarah Dudley

PAINTINGS // SYNCHROTRON LIGHT

PAINTINGS // EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPES

PAINTINGS // SANCTUARIES

PAINTINGS // ELECTRON UNIVERSES

PAINTINGS // JOURNAL ENTRIES