Tim Armstrong, whose beautiful stained glass panel for the Nanoscience Centre at the University of Cambridge was installed in June, exhibits a selection of his glass and prints at Clare Hall this month.

Armstrong's work combines old and new ideas and methods. His gallery pieces combine his interest in pattern, visual complexity, optical illusions and kinetics. His techniques include drawing, printing, sandblasting, painting and computer design.

The exhibition at Clare Hall includes a small reproduction of the stained glass panel at the Nanoscience Centre, and many more pieces which exhibit the way in which Armstrong's work includes forms seen in both art and technology. These include moiré patterns, the interference patterns which appear when two similarly spaced grids overlap, which are also studied in crystallography and manufacturing engineering.

The recent installation of Armstrong's stained glass panel at the Nanoscience Centre has the Centre's logo as its focal point. In the panel, the tip of an atomic force microscope, usually silicon or silicon nitride, is replaced by a sweep of calligraphy. This symbolises the writing function of the instrument which alters as well as records molecular structures. Viewed from different distances, the panel appears alternately punctured and solid. Ambiguity is a feature of nanoscience where materials change their physical and optical properties simply because of their size.

The free exhibition of Armstrong's work at Clare Hall on Herschel Road, off Grange Road, is open from 9am to 6pm daily and runs until 31 July.

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