Belarusian sculptor unveils artwork honouring US physicist Jim Gates

Belarusian sculptor Pavel Wilimaytis has created a portrait of the theoretical physicist Jim Gates who is based at the University of Maryland and Brown University.

Gates is best known for his work on supersymmetry and superstring theory as well as the connections between quantum physics and information theory. He is also known for his outreach in particular the PBS series The Elegant Universe.

Wilimaytis, who has been living in Saint-Jorioz in France for the past three years, has a hearing impairment and chooses people to sculpt based on the “human presence in their faces”.

“For the first eight years of his life, Pavel perceived the world outside of language,” Wilimaytis’ mother Natallia told Physics World. “Before he learned to understand words, he already knew how to feel people: their warmth and coldness, light and shadow, pain, tension, kindness or inner closedness. Not what a person says about themselves, but what emanates from them before any words.”

Wilimaytis noticed photos of Gates online and was struck by the physicist’s “warmth, openness and distinctive charisma”.

“There is the quiet generosity of a scientists and teacher known for his exceptional ability to open the world of knowledge to others,” notes Wilimaytis.

The portrait of Gates, standing around 30 cm tall, was first modelled in plasticine and then cast in Acrystal – a water-based mineral composite material.

The sculpture forms part of Pavel’s sculptural series devoted to figures in science and culture. The series – “The lesser-known faces of famous people” – also includes Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie and Erwin Schrödinger.

In an e-mail to Natallia, Gates noted that he was “absolutely delighted” by the sculpture.