Expanded Perception:

The Artwork

Expanded Perception: Peacock Mantis Shrimp is a multilayered work combining acrylic painting with polarized light art. From the shrimp's eyes, 6 colors emerge — representing wavelengths humans can see. Once viewed through polarized glasses, those colors transform and new ones are revealed. A whole world, previously invisible, is unlocked.

Viewers are encouraged to rotate the lenses of the glasses, view from different angles, and experiment with looking through one eye at a time — becoming an active part of the optical system rather than a passive observer.

The Cavitation Bubble

Above the shrimp is a bubble that appears only when viewed through polarized glasses. This references another peacock mantis shrimp superpower: their ability to punch so fast that a cavitation bubble forms, which collapses into a burst of high energy light and sound. These strikes are powerful enough to break aquarium glass.

The bubble's positioning above and between the shrimp's eyes also evokes the symbolism of a third eye — found across spiritual traditions as a sense that perceives beyond the ordinary five. Similar to the invisible light peacock mantis shrimp can observe, this artwork gently holds open the possibility of humans sensing the unseen.

Interaction & Rodaspecs

This piece pairs especially well with Rodaspecs — the polarized glasses I invented with individually rotatable lenses. Each eye can be tuned to a different angle, so each sees a different color of the artwork simultaneously. The viewer becomes an even more active component of the optical system.