For Julien Isaacs, it all started with an Amazon order of glitter. Isaacs (SFS ’12) had been involved in art long before he came to Georgetown, but it wasn’t until this year that he had the “epiphany,” as he called it, to use glitter as his medium. “I needed something that was totally modern, something with very little history, and something that I could fully explore the enormous potential of,” Isaacs said. “I found that in glitter.”

Isaacs’ upcoming show at Tryst Coffeehouse, which opens on April 5, is all about the glitter. The show includes 14 of Isaacs’ “glitters,” and most of them portray modern pop-culture icons, including Lady Gaga, President Obama and Snooki off “Jersey Shore.”

These glitters are, in a way, Isaacs’ attempt to acknowledge the significance of these cultural icons. “Part of me wants to honor them by memorializing themthrough glitter,” Isaacs said.

“It’s called ‘The Divine Chaos’ because chaos is the seed of all individuality, and

extreme expressions of individuality cause chaos, like ripples in society, but, at the

same time, that’s what makes people celebrities. And, to that celebrity, there is a divinity that we attribute to them, so it’s like the divine chaos.”

To Isaacs, glitter is the best, most original way to memorialize someone because it shows light.

“I’ve been on a long quest to capture light. [It] is the most beautiful thing in the world … especially the movement of light. It’s not just light itself; it’s the sparkle. It sparkles at you,” Isaacs said. “What’s more beautiful than putting someone in light?”

Isaac’s journey to “capture light” through glitter has come a long way. Originally, his main medium was oil painting, but he felt he couldn’t find his individuality in oil painting.

“Everyone does oil paint … no one does glitter,” he said. “I feel like this is my chance to spread my glittery wings and get some glitter residue all over D.C.”

Isaacs has already seen traces of that “residue” in his life, both literally and metaphorically. Isaacssaid that the basement of his house looks like a “glitter beach” or “treasure island” because, “At my house, the glitter literally gets everywhere … I look at that in the positive sense. This is one medium that can literally get everywhere in the world.”

The glitter has already started to spread around Georgetown’s campus. In The Midnight MUG, Isaacsdisplayed five of his glitters depicting chihuahuas, which have received positive feedback from students.

He has also given away dozens of his glitters to students to hang in their apartments. Isaacs said he wasn’t sad to see them go though.

“The things you give to the world will eventually come back to you in surprising ways, so I was totally OK … I want to spread the glitter gospel all over campus,” Isaacs said.

This “glitter gospel” might be Isaacs’ last artistic mark on Georgetown before he leaves for San Francisco after graduation to pursue a master’s in fine arts. He plans, however, to take his newly discovered glitter passion with him to art school.

“When I’m in MFA, I really hope to explore the meaning of glitter because I think it is the most beautiful thing I have to offer the world, and I want to explore it to its full potential,” Isaacs said.

Still, the idea of moving forward isn’t entirely without nostalgia for Isaacs.

“There’s a lot I’m going to miss [about Georgetown], but, at the same time, I’m OK to close this chapter and start a new [one] because, at the end of this chapter, I discovered something that I really think can prove to be an everlasting foundation for the rest of my life artistically.”

For people who want to see all the glitter in person, Isaacs said they are more than welcome to come to his art show at Tryst on April 5th at 7 p.m. but under one “glitter gospel” condition: “You have to dress in sparkles.”