The CSBD is currently exhibiting 23 pieces of artwork, created by the PhD student Karen Soans. She started her PhD work in 2017 as a shared student in the groups of Caren Norden (now located at the Instituto Gulbenkian Ciência in Portugal) and Carl Modes. In April 2021, Karen Soans began to draw the adventures of an astronaut. She called her series of digitally created art “The Lonely Astro.” About her pictures, Karen says: “It’s a reflection of the scientific endeavor, which is often lonely, but filled with excitement! Astro goes out and explores the unknown. Similarly, you find out all these new things, and it’s very exciting, but many times it is quite lonely, because you are the only one who is fully aware of your project. That is what the Lonely Astro means for me, but other people resonate with the art as well, because I think everyone experiences loneliness in some way.”

Karen is still busy creating more adventures of the Lonely Astro and the character keeps evolving. “I have new ideas for the adventures all the time. As a child, I wanted to be an astronaut, but it was out of my reach growing up. Today, I am still drawn to space-related things. So, the ideas come naturally to me.”