PHY-TOPIC

Extending the long and illustrious history of artists working with flowers and plants, Phytopia reveals a hidden world lying beyond the scope of the human eye. Working in the liminal territory between Art and Science, this extensive collection of images is derived from plant samples; pollen, seeds, fruit and leaves, creating images that lie somewhere between science and symbolism, in which the many complexities of representing plants are concentrated into mesmeric visual statements. Original samples are spluttered with a fine coating of gold and photographed on a scanning electron microscope. The resulting images are re-mastered using subtle washes and layers of colour to enhance their forms and reveal complex and fragile structural characteristics with astonishing clarity. Just as the original plant employs colour coded messages to attract an audience of insect collaborators; through artistic intervention and interpretation Rob Kesseler creates powerful symbols that carry many messages: markers with which we retain contact with the natural world.

More information can be found on the downloadable article:

A New Phytopia
infocus Magazine issue 10 June 2008
Reproduced by kind permission of the
Royal Microscopical Society