Digital artist Lucia Grossberger Morales currently has a version of her 1987 digital artwork “Huaca” being exhibited by UCR ARTS at University of California, Riverside.
Early in her career as an artist, Morales developed an allergy to oil paints. When the Apple II was later released, she discovered she could use it to create a variety of art and kaleidoscopes. Morales has presented at multiple KansasFests and written for Juiced.GS about her career as a digital artist.
This latest exhibit, “Digital Capture: Southern California and the Pixel-Based Image World“, opened on September 21, 2024, in Riverside, California. The exhibit “investigates the history and creative uses of digital imaging technology, from the genesis of digital imaging in Southern California research laboratories during the Cold War and space race of the 1960s to the ubiquity of digital media in our contemporary world”.
Morales’ piece, “Huaca”, is viewed via a physical assembly crafted specifically to house her digital creation and painted only in colors available on the Apple II powering the display:
A keyboard-controlled kaleidoscope housed within a brightly painted, shrine-like structure (huaca is a Quechua term that refers to sacred objects, places, or deities), this installation invites the viewer to sit down in quiet contemplation and manipulate the geometric patterns, watching them swirl through a triangular window.
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The exhibit runs through February 2, 2025. Those unable to attend in person can view the “Huaca” kaleidoscope in an online video on Morales’ website.
Read more from Morales, including about her collaborations with Bob Bishop, in Juiced.GS Volume 20, Issue 4 (December 2015).