Wolf ZsuzsiEvolve To Art

Technoparasite

Technoparasite

by | Aug 6, 2025 | blog-en

50×70 cm stretchedcanvas , acrylic, various technique

Let me begin (ironically) with a summary formulated by ChatGPT:
“From a spiritual perspective, technology itself is neither good nor bad, but without moral maturity it is dangerous.”

This is an alternative dystopia where technological development and moral decay go hand in hand—each reinforcing the other and leading to an extreme, yet familiar, worldview.

I started from two very different, yet deeply complementary sources of inspiration: one is the parasitic species of the Cordyceps fungus genus, capable of manipulating the behavior of their hosts; the other is the theory of Soviet astrophysicist Nikolai Semyonovich Kardashev—the Kardashev Scale, which classifies civilizations according to their technological advancement. (Perhaps these two names have never before appeared in the same sentence in the history of humanity).

In this painting, I also tried to emphasize the concept through contrasts in every respect: thematically, formally, and in the use of materials. Naturally, this did not come to fruition in just a few days; from the birth of the original idea, it underwent countless changes.

The image depicts an organic lifeform that has reached the level of an interstellar civilization but lost its moral compass long ago. It uses its intelligence not for progress, but for exploitation; for it, technology is not a tool of inner order, but a mere, self-serving substitute. (I would simply interpret this in the present tense as, for example, when an innocent photo is manipulated using technology and then used for blackmail). It has become a kind of invisible parasite that does not attack directly, but leaves its mark only through the distortion of behavior.
In the lower right portion of the painting, on the planet, one can see the subtle ring-like pattern that a parasitic fungus can cause on an insect. In the upper left corner, there is a Dyson swarm—an artificially created system for harvesting a star’s energy.

“The voices of the machines have grown so loud that we can no longer hear the whisper of conscience.”

These are just my thoughts at the moment, what led me to create this painting.
I am very happy if anyone comes up with any thoughts of their own simply by looking at the piece, even without knowing mine, or perhaps influenced by them; I believe it can, on its own, raise exciting questions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Technoparasite painting - 50×70 cm stretched canvas , acrylic, various technique
Technoparazita festmény - 50x70 cm vakrámára feszített vászon, akril, vegyes technika
Technoparasite painting - 50×70 cm stretched canvas , acrylic, various technique
Technoparasite painting - 50×70 cm stretched canvas , acrylic, various technique
Technoparasite painting - 50×70 cm stretched canvas , acrylic, various technique
Technoparasite painting - 50×70 cm stretched canvas , acrylic, various technique
Technoparasite painting - 50×70 cm stretched canvas , acrylic, various technique
Crew Dragon

Crew Dragon

by | Jul 22, 2025 | blog-en

Now that everything is all about Tibor Kapu (to our great joy! 😊), I’d like to share an earlier painting of mine, along with some interesting facts I’ve gathered.

This painting depicts the Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour from the Demo-2 mission, already docked to the International Space Station. (Based on its shape and structure, it qualifies as a space capsule—it has a heat shield, can carry humans into space and return them safely. At the same time, it’s technically also a spacecraft, since it can maneuver autonomously, dock on its own, and support human life in orbit).

This was the first crewed spaceflight launched from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle program (officially STS – Space Transportation System) ended in 2011.

The names of Crew Dragon spacecraft are usually chosen by SpaceX, Axiom Space, or most often by the astronauts themselves. This latter tradition dates back to the Mercury–Apollo–Shuttle era, of course subject to official approval. During the Gemini program, on the other hand, NASA only used numbers—reflecting a more practical, military mindset. Gemini was designed to prepare for Apollo, so the astronauts’ individual “branding” wasn’t in focus at the time. (Side note: the Apollo 11 crew originally proposed naming their spacecraft Snowcone and Haystack, which NASA promptly rejected, saying, “The first crewed Moon landing is not a joke.”)

Back to the Demo-2 mission:

Choosing the name, Endeavour was also personal—both Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley had previously flown on the Space Shuttle, and both made their first flights on Endeavour. By naming the capsule this way, they paid tribute to the shuttle. (Incidentally, Apollo 15’s command module was also called Endeavour).

Bob Behnken és Doug Hurley a Demo-2 küldetésen

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on board Endeavour during the Demo-2 mission. Image source: NASA

After the first test flight, the Crew Dragon capsule capacity was increased from two astronauts to four.

And now—almost exactly five years later—we were finally able to cheer for a Hungarian astronaut, from launch all the way to splashdown. This mission was not organized by NASA, but by Axiom Space—a private company that conducts commercial spaceflights. These missions typically involve shorter stays aboard the International Space Station, with clearly defined research and educational goals.

The capsule used, however, is the same type, although not the same unit. The Endeavour capsule is now a veteran, with five flights under its belt. The capsule that carried Tibor (alongside Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski) was on its very first mission. That’s why they had the honor of naming it: Grace. The name “Grace” evokes dignity, gratitude, and also the beauty of shared human endeavor. (This symbolism is especially meaningful to me—it’s a very uplifting and forward-looking message.)

Az Axiom-4 küldetésének tagjai a Crew Dragon Grace űrhajóban. A kép bal szélén Kapu Tibor látható.

Members of the Axiom-4 mission in the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Image source: NASA

A few improvements since the first Crew Dragon:

  • Reinforced heat shield
  • Upgraded parachutes
  • More precise sensors
  • Ability to relocate between docking ports
  • Longer orbital stay duration
  • New safety systems 
  • Even greater reusability

So far, five different capsules have been used in a total of 18 crewed missions. Of these, 11 were NASA missions, and 7 were private or commercial (Axiom, Inspiration-4, Fram-2). Here’s a breakdown of the capsules and their missions:

  • Endeavour: Demo-2, Crew-2, Ax-1, Crew-6, Crew-8
  • Resilience: Crew-1, Inspiration4, Ax-2, Fram-2
  • Endurance: Crew-3, Crew-5, Crew-7, Crew-10
  • Freedom: Crew-4, Ax-3, Crew-9
  • Grace: Ax-4

As for the painting process—well, it was less thrilling than the story behind it, especially since it was based on a photo. So instead of a full walkthrough, I’ve put together a short visual summary of the steps. The original photo—an absolutely stunning shot—was taken by Bob Behnken aboard the ISS. In it, you can see the Crew Dragon capsule, the Harmony module, and the Japanese HTV-9 cargo spacecraft (which had just arrived a few days earlier), weighing 12 tons and delivering supplies.

The idea for the subject wasn’t originally mine either—but I hope that with some imprecision and freestyle brushstrokes, I was able to add a new kind of experience for the viewer. For me, it was definitely an experience—especially when I look back now and remember how I thought I wouldn’t be able to pull off this level of detail.

But—I did it! 😊🎉

Thank you for looking and reading!

Ref photo: NASA, Bob Behnken

Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Earth from the ISS, based on a photo by Bob Behnken, 50x50 cm stretched canvas, acrylic
Painting depicting the Earth with the International Space Station.
Starship

Starship

by | Sep 27, 2023 | blog-en

On the 20th of April 2023, the first complete Starship/Super Heavy rocket system took to the skies for the first time.

For a very long time I wanted to paint Starship in all its glory, as a basic idea as a silhouette, just in black, white, yellow and brown. Due to other tasks and circumstances, I ran out of this idea, so I used the supplies I had at home. This is how the colours ended up on black canvas, as well as the Super Heavy Booster 7 and Ship 24 photographed during the first test flight.

The Super Heavy Booster 7 was a 69 meter long first stage equipped with 33 sea level optimized Raptor engines with a total thrust of about 74.4 MN.

The Ship 24 is the second stage of the rocket system, 50 m high and 9 m in diameter. It was equipped with 3 Raptor engines optimised for sea level and 3 Raptor engines optimised for vacuum, with a total thrust of 14,7 MN.

The main goal of the mission was to launch the rocket, which is almost 120 metres high, into space safely and to survive the ascent phase and the maximum aerodynamic load (Max-Q). After the stage separation, S24 would approach its first orbital speed (28,000 km/h) with the help of its six Raptor engines and, after three quarters of its low-Earth orbit, would terminate in the Pacific Ocean, about 150 km north of the Hawaiian Islands. Meanwhile, the first stage would have made a controlled descent into the Gulf of Mexico.

Although the test flight did not achieve all its objectives, it did achieve the most important one: Starship left the launch pad in one piece and made its maiden voyage as the largest and most powerful vehicle ever, reaching an altitude of 39 km.

40×80 cm stretched canvas, acrylic, various techniques.

If you like the painting, you can buy it.

Starship first test flight

Sminthuridae

Sminthuridae

by | Jun 30, 2023 | blog-en

Without a subject, I experimented with bokeh on this canvas, it just stood there for a while with its little spots.
I thought a lot about what would give the image essence, where to put the focus. Finally I went from the solar system and spaceships to collembolas, so I searched the net and found some wonderful photos by Andy Murray. I painted one of them with metallic-acrylic colours. 🙂

30×30 cm, canvas, acrylic, various techniques

Sminthuridae - collembola

Red shift

Red shift

by | May 1, 2023 | blog-en

Red and blue shift of an imaginary spiral galaxy, fantasy image.

I built the dust rings with texture paste for days (it was a good experience), so that I could spray the two dominant colours, red and blue, from a flat angle. At the same time, I tried to achieve an effect that was pleasing to the eye in itself, because the original idea would only really work if the image itself was in motion or the position of the viewer changed – which can be achieved with the vertical suspension, but then it would look weird from the eye. 🙂

I have done a lot of small dioramas with this technique and it is very effective. I’ll keep experimenting with the larger ones. 🙂

30×60 cm stretched canvas, acrylic, structure paste, various techniques.

More information about the “red shift”can be found on the ESA website

Imaginary spiral galaxy

Marsquake

Marsquake

by | Apr 15, 2023 | blog-en

A complex image, in which I have tried to represent the strongest seismic activity on Mars detected by the InSight.

40×40 cm, stretched canvas, acrylic, structure paste, various techniques.

The InSight probe

InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) landed on the 26th of November in 2018 on the Elysium Planitia on Mars. Its mission was originally planned for a 2-year duration, which was extended for another 2 years in January 2021.

On 19 December 2018, it deployed its seismometer, SEIS, on the surface of Mars (shown at the bottom of the image, which I painted using the photo by InSight). It placed 1.6 metres away using the robotic arm of the probe. SEIS was able to detect movements up to the atomic level. It could also measure a quake of magnitude less than 4 from 1600 km away, which is not possible on Earth, mainly due to background noise from the oceans.
Thanks to this equipment, seismic activity was detected on the red planet for the first time on 6 April 2019.

The seismometer measured more than 1,300 seismic events during its mission, and more than 50 of these gave a clear signal for the mission team to identify the epicentre of the quakes. The largest events originated from Cerberus Fossae (shown in the top of the image  and based on the image of the ESA Mars Express spacecraft’s high-resolution camera), a region that shows signs of geologically young volcanism – within the last two million years.

The instrument has been used to detect several strong marsquakes. The record was a magnitude 5 event in May 2022. A seismogram (based on a NASA/JPL – Caltech diagram) is shown in the centre of the image. The shock waves from the vibrations reverberated around the planet for at least six hours.

The lander detected several large quakes of magnitude 4 or stronger in September 2021.

InSight has helped to reveal the internal structure of Mars and to gather new information about the planet’s three main layers – the crust, the mantle and the core – which has significantly changed our understanding of the planet’s interior.

Its mission ended on 15 December 2022, after 1440 Martian days (sol), or 4 years and 18 days in Earth terms. Its scientific measurements and observations have given scientists many years of work to do, and will tell us even more about Mars’ present, past and subsurface geology.

More about the mission

The sound of the marsquake

The strongest quake on Mars measured by the InSight spacecraft.