Imagine capturing light and creating a sculpture of it. That mind-boggling feat is what artist Michael Somoroff achieved in his work “Illumination I.”

He constructed the 20-foot-tall, 37-foot-wide piece of sculpture at the custom fabrication shop Kreysler & Associates in American Canyon.

“This is the largest piece I’ve ever done,” said Somoroff, as workers put the finishing touches on the sculpture. “My background of photography evolved into making sculpture. I wrote software that takes pictures of light, forming it into three-dimensional structures that I then translate into physical objects.

“We had to make it easy to dismantle and reassemble for its installation at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. It is constructed of fiberglass, pulverized marble and lime cement. Kreysler & Associates was one of the few places in the country with that level of expertise. I live in New York, and when I told my wife I had to go to Napa to build ‘Illumination I,’ she didn’t believe me.”

Somoroff said “Illumination I” is the first time in the history of the Rothko Chapel that an artist other than its original creators was asked to exhibit a work of art on its grounds.

The Rothko Chapel functions as chapel, a museum and a forum. Founded by John and Dominique de Menil, the Rothko Chapel was dedicated in 1971 as a sanctuary available to people of every belief. It is a modern meditative environment inspired by the murals of American abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. Those involved with its creation were painter Rothko, artist Barnett Newman and the architects Phillip Johnson, Howard Barstone and Eugene Aubrey.

According to a press release about the sculpture, Somoroff works simultaneously in various mediums: photography, film and video as well as new media technology and sculpture.

His work is exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York (AICP), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, and the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.

For “Illumination I,” Somoroff took the floor plans of the Rothko Chapel and created a video animation of an imaginary mosque by compositing three-dimensional extrapolations of photographs he collected at various mosques around the world, including some of those destroyed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In virtual space, he situated this imaginary mosque in the Rothko Chapel and charted the movement of the chapel’s actual natural light.

“The central tool of my art is the computer,” said Somoroff.

“Illumination I” is a “Photoplastik,” a sculptural, photo-based work, created with the aid of the computer and new media technology.

Bill Kreysler, owner of Kreysler & Associates was not daunted by the prospect of working on such a large piece.

“We specialize in fabricating objects that it’s not possible to do with traditional materials,” said Kreysler. “The challenge is that it’s being done based on a three-dimensional computer model. It’s a very new method of manufacturing. The misconception is that if a computer is involved everything turns out perfectly. But computers aren’t smart enough. When you’re looking at a computer monitor and the object is 11 inches tall, then you create the object to be 25 feet tall, you see things you couldn’t see when it was only inches tall.”

Kreysler reported that he had four people working on the complicated sculpture and it took six to eight months to create.

Artist Somoroff is pleased with the outcome and delighted with where it will be viewed.

“The Rothko Chapel’s human rights program stresses the transformative and healing power of art,” said Somoroff. “Art makes the world a better place.”

Since it is called “Illumination I,” will there be an “Illumination II?”

“I’d like to do four of them,” said Somoroff. “’Illumination I’ is a depiction of light, the ultimate spiritual metaphor.”

“Illumination I” will be displayed through January 2007.