Warped Spaces, August 13, 2012, is a solo exhibition of Julie Russo in the second level studio room of the Guggenheim Gallery that discusses how light, space, and time define our perception of reality. Warped Spaces will be open to the public for one night at a reception from 5:30pm-7:00pm.
 
Artist and student, Julie Russo works with lasers, mirrors, and fog to create the subjects for her series of photographs. The eight 30 by 45 inch prints display a versatile collection of angles, closeups, and movement around a precisely set-up, light sculpture that she photographed in the dark. Her photographs depict light as a physical object in space and how time and perspective can affect the way it is viewed. Warped Space questions Euclidean geometry, Newton’s laws of physics, and Einstein’s theory of relativity, but draws inspirations from materials used in LIGO, an instrument that detects ripples in space-time using a laser interferometer. 
Julie Russo, an Orange County-based artist, is a current junior at Chapman University, studying to earn her BFA in Art with a minor in advertising. After studying the intersection of art and science as a freshman and later becoming a teacher’s assistant for Professor Lia Halloran in this subject, Russo proposed to continue her investigation. Her written research proposal had her chosen from nearly fifty applicants to participate in Chapman University’s first official Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, where she spent ten weeks studying how art and science are intertwined with direction led by mentor Lia Halloran. Russo also received a creative grant from Chapman University to fund her project. Warped Spaces is the final product of Julie Russo’s culminated research and is her first solo display of her work.
For more information about the research project, artistic inspirations, and ten week project, check out her blog at surfwarpedspace.blogspot.com