Artists of Holography Against Great Odds

People who work at creating holographic art have to overcome many obstacles prior to meeting with even a modicum of success. They must usually do so with a minimum of outside help, experts being rather scarce. A mountain of equipment and a substantial facility and budget are required for the more ambitious undertakings. These obstacles have not deterred a few particularly hardy pioneer types, such as Paula Dawson of Sydney, Australia. She tackles life-size objects routinely and unrelentingly on a scale that some would claim to be impossible. The technical achievement is secondary to the artistic messages in her work, but the scale is necessary to properly make the statement. This paper applauds the hardy few who have reached their goals and gives encouragement to those with yet unfulfilled dreams.