Dark Sky series perspective

Up until the turn of the 20th century the night sky was a shared human experience that was unhindered by light pollution.  We used to have a daily reminder of how small we actually are.  But, with the expansion of electrical power and urbanization the night sky has become increasingly diluted for the majority of people in western civilization that leans more and more towards urbanization and a lifestyle that extends further and further into the evening hours. There is nothing inherently wrong with urbanization, but I feel there have been some unintended consequences as a result of it.

One of the major consequences is because we aren't confronted with something as overwhelmingly large and amazing as the cosmos on a consistent basis we have now lost a natural guidepost that helps us keep our true size, as humans, in context. When I first saw the Milky Way in all it's glory, one of the words I found that helped describe my experience was I felt "confronted" by the night sky.  Yet, I've found that feeling smaller, or more "right-sized" as I look at it, hasn't made me feel less important or significant.  In fact, it caused me to think deeply, ask meta-questions, and ponder greater purposes outside of my normal comforts and day-to-day thought processes.

My pursuit of this series is an attempt to recapture the important role night plays in people's lives, including my own life.  It's also an attempt to communicate through my art the awe of these night time experiences to those who haven't been exposed to it yet .  At the very least I hope to inspire others to seek out this "dark sky" environment for themselves, and allow themselves to be confronted by pure night.