Symmetries & Broken Symmetries
- Shanthi
- Feb 14
- 2 min read
Symmetries & Broken Symmetries is on view now through July 3 in the NAS Upstairs Gallery. The exhibition can be seen during NAS Building tours and select special events.
This exhibition brings together artist Shanthi Chandrasekar and physicist-writer Michael Albrow in a shared exploration of how order and chaos in the universe echo across art, science, and human understanding. Through parallel and complementary practices, drawing, painting, and writing enter into dialogue, offering multiple ways of perceiving the cosmos.
The show features 18 drawings and paintings by Chandrasekar, paired with selected writings by Albrow.
Chandrasekar, who grew up in an Indian atomic energy research community shaped by both advanced science and ancient cultural traditions, draws inspiration from kolam — a South Indian practice of geometric rice-flour patterns created on thresholds. Kolam embodies impermanence, resilience, and cosmic order. In her work, structured grids and symmetries gradually shift, fracture, or dissolve, revealing hidden layers and new possibilities. These transformations resonate with ideas in physics and cosmology, where symmetry — and its breaking — shapes reality from the quantum to the cosmic scale.
Albrow’s writings reflect on symmetry as a foundation of physics and its breaking as the source of complexity, life, and an evolving universe.
Together, they invite viewers to reflect on how pattern, balance, and rupture shape both the cosmos and human consciousness.
Symmetries & Broken Symmetries: Shanthi Chandrasekar and Michael Albrow January 27 – July 3, 2026National Academy of Sciences, Upstairs Gallery2100 C St NW, Washington, D.C.
This exhibition is viewable during guided tours of the NAS Building and select special events.
Advance registration and a government-issued photo ID are required.
Building Tours
Register for NAS Building tours here:
Select Special Events
See the exhibition during select special events, including during the reception following Climate Conversation: DC Crossroads on February 10, 4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.Register here (registration closes on February 6):
And also, before or after the DC Art Science Evening Rendezvous: Human Exploration of Mars on February 19, 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Register here:
The exhibition will be viewable during other special evening and weekend events during spring 2026, and those dates will be announced soon.
Subscribe to Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences’ email list for updates:
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