Unity Magnified:
Exploring Beauty On The Microscopic Stage

Artist Statement

As an artist, I think of myself firstly as an explorer, searching out truth, beauty, and connection throughout existence. A key area of exploration for me these past years has been the microscopic world. Through the lens of a microscope, I am able to see pieces of this world in ways I never have before, forms that are new yet so often familiar, revealing ever more threads of connection between all things.
In a process of photomicrography, I painstakingly go over each specimen taking anywhere between 50 and 2,000 individual photographs, one small section at a time. What follows is also a complicated process, stitching the individual photographs into one large image that recreates what I have witnessed on the slide.
At this point, my role begins to shift, and I am no longer just an observer. The specimen’s image faithfully rendered, I now begin to break it apart; mirroring, rotating, stitching and filling in pieces, I build out the circular form. I make wreaths because they are an ancient symbol that speaks to both the infinitude and cyclicality of existence and the unity and universality of matter both here on earth and in the cosmos. I delight in the connections that I find along the way; plant cells looking like stained glass, fibers mimicking artist’s mark making on a paper. Like how the bronchial and vascular systems of our lungs look so much like the roots and branches of trees, these echoes across creation help show the connections in and around us.
This work, in its small way, is a celebration of the glorious and beautiful creations of God and of the brilliant work of the scientists and tradesmen who made seeing it in this way possible. I hope that this work also might spur contemplation on the mystery and beauty of existence, and a reverent understanding of our relationship with the world around us.