Grow Lab at CSM

Cheek cells, mushrooms, paint, flower petals, naturally colorful bacteria, even moulds. We put everything under the microscopes. Lots of different microscopes too. The colors, textures, patterns, lines and structures were all wonderful and the microscopic aesthetic, as well as the lab-world aesthetic started creeping into my subconscious and into my practice from this moment forward.

My cheek cells

Prodigiosin - naturally produced red pigment, product of Serratia Marcescens strain

Mushroom gills under a SEM Microscope

Rose petal and cross section of vegetable stem showing phylum

I had forgotten how much I loved to be in a science environment. About two years have gone by now since I graduate from Duke and been apart from labs... of course I had still been consuming science enthusiastically but I hadn't physically been in a lab yet. And then, the MA Art and Science at CSM gave me the opportunity to spend time in the lab. Looking at almost anything under their microscopes. And this was a strong reminder of how much I enjoyed, admired, and craved, scientific environments.