Dirty Clouds is a series of 70 paintings informed by Marina Roy’s conversations with physicists about antimatter. It delves into the fascinating interplay of science and spirituality, drawing from Nietzsche's words about human evolution: "You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm." Through this work, Roy aims to engage viewers in cosmic reflections, such as “The light we see from the sun is from 8 minutes ago. Light is the result of antimatter produced in the heart of the sun, and its annihilation. We will never be able to see the edges of the universe, as they are fourteen billion years away.” In this way, the work underscores the vastness of the universe, emphasizing the mediated nature of our cosmic knowledge.

Amidst these musings, the artwork also questions the contemporary pursuit of sacred art and the role of human agency in transforming matter. Referencing ancient emblems and alchemical illustrations in her paintings, Roy appropriates the motif of the “hand of God” as a stand-in for the human hand, playing God, fixated with building apparatuses of extraction. This human desire to devour and consume is set against the backdrop of capital accumulation, which Roy argues, has obscured the sacred in our lives. In the face of “looming extinction,” the artwork prompts viewers to consider new directions and purpose.

In discussing this work, Roy reflects on the nature of matter, its energy origins, and the scarcity of antimatter: “The matter we see around us is what is left over from billions of years of creation-annihilation, energy passed between fermion and boson, and other elemental and energy states known and unknown. Matter is congealed energy. When matter first formed, it left a negative imprint – antimatter. When matter and antimatter collide, they release exorbitant energy. There is very little antimatter accessible to humans as things stand, most of it having been used up, leaving behind stray matter.” To grapple with these intricate physical concepts, Roy invites viewers to embark on a journey of understanding, material transformation, and unexpected creations; she suggests: “Begin with a void, proceed blindly, with little understanding of where things will go, figure out a transformative process in reaction to materials, let things accrete slowly, witness materials assembling, interpenetrating and congealing, such as bitumen and red iron oxide into plastic.”

Dirty Clouds was created in response to “Leaning Out of Windows” (2016-2020), a research-creation project organized by Randy Lee Cutler and Ingrid Koenig that explores how knowledge might be translated across the disciplinary communities of art and physics in order to develop a shared understanding of the cosmos.