Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world. My series of paintings aims at questioning these beliefs…

The Vietnamese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. The Viet lunar calendar is divided into 60-year cycles known as hồi. Each of these consists of five 12-year animal cycles

In Vietnam, the zodiac is an important aspect of culture. The Vietnamese zodiac is similar to the zodiac of other Asian countries, with 12 animal signs that represent the 12-year cycle of the lunar calendar.

1. Rat – the smart onE
2. Buffalo – the born leader one
3. Tiger – the “power” one
4. Cat – the flexible one
5. Dragon – the holy one
6. Snake – the lucky one
7. Horse – the nomadic one
8. Goat – the dreamy one
9. Monkey – the cheerful one
10. Rooster – the self-righteous one
11. Dog – the faithful one
12. Pig – the optimistic one

Astrology has been rejected by the scientific community as having no explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientific testing has found no evidence to support the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions.

Where astrology has made falsifiable predictions, it has been falsified. The most famous test was headed by Shawn Carlson and included a committee of scientists and a committee of astrologers. It led to the conclusion that natal astrology performed no better than chance.

Astrology has not demonstrated its effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity, and is thus regarded as pseudoscience, There is no proposed mechanism of action by which the positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth in the way astrologers say they do that does not contradict well-understood, basic aspects of biology and physics.

There is no mechanism to explain how it could work, no force that can back it up, and, furthermore, no rational reason to split up the entire human population into 12 groups symbolized by randomly assigned constellations. No matter how you look at it (and people have tried), there’s no plausible mechanism that could work.

Also, it’s important to consider the context of this: the zodiac signs are the result of Babylonian pattern-matching on the night sky. This doesn’t seem very reliable and indeed, other cultures had different constellations and treated the night sky differently. In other words, what most people call astrology is essentially reinterpreted Babylonian sky observations.

Astrology is a funny thing. After having put up with decades of scientific probing, it has retreated to the one area that shields it from a rational critique: mysticism. It may surprise us to learn that in an age of genetic sequencing and powerful telescopes, a system of divination conjured up in the Levant thousands of years ago is still alive and well.

My Astrology series

I have completed the first six animal signs (Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Cat, Dragon and Snake), Each picture employs different techniques to question Astrology. The rat has rotating houses within its body and a banner of houses looping around it. The Buffalo has landscape inside and out. The Tiger is walking out of a rip in the sky. The Cat exists in strange place and is carrying a child (which is extremely unlikely!). The Dragon is constructed out of a banner language and so is the background . The Snake has landscape rotating around its head and has it in its body. The dark blue in the picture forms a question mark too. All of which is deliberately topsy turvy.

For more information on me, visit my CV and/or contact me via Facebook

The Vietnamese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. The Viet lunar calendar is divided into 60-year cycles known as hồi. Each of these consists of five 12-year animal cycles

In Vietnam, the zodiac is an important aspect of culture. The Vietnamese zodiac is similar to the zodiac of other Asian countries, with 12 animal signs that represent the 12-year cycle of the lunar calendar.

1. 1. Rat – the smart one

1. 1. Buffalo – the born leader one

1. 1. Tiger – the “power” one

1. 1. Cat – the flexible one

1. 1. Dragon – the holy one

1. 1. Snake – the lucky one

1. 1. Horse – the nomadic one

1. 1. Goat – the dreamy one

1. 1. Monkey – the cheerful one

1. 1. Rooster – the self-righteous one

1. 1. Dog – the faithful one

1. 1. Pig – the optimistic one

Astrology has been rejected by the scientific community as having no explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientific testing has found no evidence to support the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions.

Where astrology has made falsifiable predictions, it has been falsified. The most famous test was headed by Shawn Carlson and included a committee of scientists and a committee of astrologers. It led to the conclusion that natal astrology performed no better than chance.

Astrology has not demonstrated its effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity, and is thus regarded as pseudoscience, There is no proposed mechanism of action by which the positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth in the way astrologers say they do that does not contradict well-understood, basic aspects of biology and physics.

There is no mechanism to explain how it could work, no force that can back it up, and, furthermore, no rational reason to split up the entire human population into 12 groups symbolized by randomly assigned constellations. No matter how you look at it (and people have tried), there’s no plausible mechanism that could work.

Also, it’s important to consider the context of this: the zodiac signs are the result of Babylonian pattern-matching on the night sky. This doesn’t seem very reliable and indeed, other cultures had different constellations and treated the night sky differently. In other words, what most people call astrology is essentially reinterpreted Babylonian sky observations.

Astrology is a funny thing. After having put up with decades of scientific probing, it has retreated to the one area that shields it from a rational critique: mysticism. It may surprise us to learn that in an age of genetic sequencing and powerful telescopes, a system of divination conjured up in the Levant thousands of years ago is still alive and well.

My Astrology series

I have completed the first six animal signs (Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Cat, Dragon and Snake), Each picture employs different techniques to question Astrology. The rat has rotating houses within its body and a banner of houses looping around it. The Buffalo has landscape inside and out. The Tiger is walking out of a rip in the sky. The Cat exists in strange place and is carrying a child (which is extremely unlikely!). The Dragon is constructed out of a banner language and so is the background . The Snake has landscape rotating around its head and has it in its body. The dark blue in the picture forms a question mark too. All of which is deliberately topsy turvy.

For more information on me, visit my CV and/or contact me via Facebook