The story of why a digital artist is creating scifi art about nuclear power ⚛
I first came across Alexey Rubakin’s work on Artstation, the social media and job board of the art world. He’s one of a growing community of digital and environmental artists hosting their art there, both professional and personal projects.
Watched a scifi movie or played a video game in the last five years? Chances are the original concept art came from one of the big artists and studios that now rely on Artstation to show off their portfolio.
Alexey, like almost all the other artists I’ve approached to feature on my Instagram channel, wasn’t making works explicitly about nuclear power. “Most of the work I do is concept art in the video game industry,” Alexey told me.
Nevertheless, his work spoke to ideas I have of what nuclear technology will do for humanity in the coming centuries. Themes like rewilding, space exploration, resource abundance and community energy.
Alexey’s work “Scifi Complex” mixes high science fiction with a landscape so wild its waterfalls seem to cascade out the screen.
Alexey and I got talking about how “nuclear is much better than oil, gas and coal,” as he put it. Alexey is particularly excited about the potential for nuclear fusion in the coming decades: “Obviously, this will be huge step forward for mankind and environmental preservation.”Four Cool Concepts For A Nuclear Powered FutureFrom rewilding to district heating, these kickass concepts offer a glimpse of how nuclear power might shape our lives.medium.com
Considering the technology’s potential, there is a real lack of art depicting the role of nuclear in humanity’s future. It was time to right that wrong: “I like industrial architecture and science-fiction,” Alexey told me, “and nuclear plants tick both those boxes.” Alexey would create some brand new nuclear art from a brief I would provide.
We explored several themes including urban nuclear and atomic architecture before settling on nuclear and rewilding as the subject. “With all that energy provided by nuclear power, mankind can become more responsible in the way it deals with the environment,” Alexey told me.
But nuclear’s potential doesn’t end with protecting the environment — it could also be used to restore it. Alexey believes that “nuclear power and technologies can help restore our planet.”
Alexey developed four initial scenes that envisaged how nuclear might restore Earth’s damaged ecosystems or help terraform unexplored new worlds. The thing is, nuclear isn’t just another power source. Its tiny land footprint and mining impacts mean it has a role at the heart of a circular and sustainable economy.
Going from initial idea to final artwork can be a long process for a project like this. “Usually, I just start to refine ideas — that comes from sketches,” Alexey says. “These first steps are the most important ones” as they are where the real creativity happens.
“What comes after the sketches is more technical in nature” as rough outlines are developed into polished products using several different pieces of software. “Sometimes, though, at this stage it becomes clear that some ideas that looked good as a sketch don’t work as well as I’d hoped.”
Alexey’s final concept depicts a future where nuclear technology is deployed to heal ecosystems ravaged by deforestation.
Alexey’s final concept depicts a future where nuclear technology is deployed to heal ecosystems ravaged by deforestation. The scene shows nuclear power providing clean heat to produce electricity, hydrogen, and fresh water. The electricity powers science labs and habitation for workers. The clean hydrogen is used to make low-carbon fertilizer. Clean heat and water are put to use in hydroponics domes to grow seedlings for the replanting of degraded forests. If you look closely, you’ll see the swarm of drones that can each plant thousands of seedlings per day.
Alexey calls the work “Nuclear Revival” and says “it is about how nuclear power can be integrated with other technologies of the future without damaging the planet. In fact, they can be used to restore and sustain healthy ecosystems.”
Alexey hopes seeing nuclear power in a new context may change minds about the controversial technology. “It would be great if this artwork helps to break down stereotypes about nuclear power,” he says. “People believe nuclear will always be something as dangerous as Chernobyl, when in fact the technology can provide vast amounts of energy without compromising a green and healthy environment.”
For Alexey, this is certainly not the end of the road for this theme: “I believe in a bright future for mankind,” he tells me, “and plan to keep producing artworks depicting that.”
Personally, I hope that Alexey’s amazing work inspires other artists out there to explore this theme. We need more nuclear futurism art; clean nuclear power is key to regreening the Earth.
Do you want to create your own nuclear futurism art?
Reply below to this story or contact me on Twitter if you’re an artist and interested in creating your own nuclear artwork 👌😎.
