KOLANDA EARTH

Enhancing and transforming Earth's beauty captured by satellite. Providing new ways of seeing the world's varied landscapes as works of art.

OPEN SOURCE

THE DATA

satellite imagery is captured of the entire world daily, the data is opensource for the public to utilize. In our case we have harnessed it to create beauty of the world for the world.

NOVEL

THE ART

abstract, real, bold, nebulous, varies just as the Earth herself. All shapes sizes colors and forms.

KOLANDA

THE MISSION

KOLANDA EARTH utilizes satellite imagery for the purpose of sharing and encouraging the admiration of Earth's beauty.

A fusion of science and art - The name "Kolanda" comes from the Lingala language, meaning "to reflect" or "reflection," symbolizing both the reflective nature of our art and the mechanism of satellites capturing reflected sunlight.

THE SCIENCE

  • LIGHT

    Sunlight interacts with Earth's surface, where it is absorbed and reflected in various ways depending on the object/material/angle. This interplay creates unique spectral signatures which are captured by satellites, the rich complexity of this information forms the basis of this artistic venture.

  • SATELLITE

    Satellite imagery is a rich opensource resource for scientists world wide of a variety of disciplines. Images are captured daily of the entire world, creating a rich repository of information, typically used for scientific research and now creatively repurposed in this artwork.

  • ANALYSIS

    Satellite-detected light reflectance ranges are grouped and indexed using scientific software. Some of this reflectance extends beyond what humans can see. This process reveals Earth's beauty in unprecedented ways, enabling new realms of artistic expression rooted in scientific discovery.

The Artist: Nara McCray

Born in Alaska in the 1990's, Nara is a visual artist, data scientist, cartographer and geospatial analyst with a background in environmentalism and humanitarian response.

She utilizes academic and professional talents to serve her own creative interests. Creating this art is an act of reclaiming agency over her technical abilities in remote sensing science.