New exhibition will explore data and climate

THE DATA AT HAND

Data physicalizations of earth and space

Mills College Art Museum

5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA

Sep 12 - Dec 6, 2026

Group show exploring the world in an age of climate change

"I have always wanted to touch a cloud, so I brought them down to earth and started sculpting real cloud forms in iron, glass, marble and aluminum. They are beautiful and endlessly fascinating forms. I am mesmerized as I work.

All of my Cumulus cloud sculptures are derived from real weather data through collaborations with Professor Tapio Snyder at the California Institute of Technology. Starting in September, three of my smaller clouds, two in metal and one in glass, will be displayed as part of a fascinating new group exhibition in Oakland called The Data At Hand: Data physicalizations of earth and space.

When I started dreaming about sculpting clouds, I asked myself a lot of questions. Could I manifest the weight of the cloud and its beauty? Could I explore how billions of droplets of water in clouds bend light? The works included in The Data At Hand show the results of these investigations. Iron speaks to the weight of clouds, glass to their work with light. I learned so much about data, weather, and modeling from the generous team at CalTech, and from making these works."

"Drawing upon datasets from sources ranging from the shifting terrain of riverbeds to the practices of redlining, these artists make clear that data isn’t confined to spreadsheets. It bleeds into the world, affecting the actions of individuals and institutions. The Data at Hand offers us powerful examples of physical and experiential means to escape feeling lost in data, modeling the power of grounding it in experience and the material world."

— Mills College Museum of Art

Mills College Museum of Art is located at 5000 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland, California. Learn more about the exhibition here.