The Flow of Nature: Light, Color, and Geometry

BioArt has continued to evolve since the late 19th century. It has flowered into many forms. Modern-day bioartists incorporate elements of biology into their work while some tinker with genes to create remarkable lifeforms.

Katey Berry Fugerson is a bioartist who focuses on the idea of Infinite Divisibility and Truth. As the daughter of a chemical engineer, inventor and experimenter, her childhood was bathed in science. She believes that art is life and is a series of collaborations in which there are infinite pieces that make up each individual or the ‘Whole Truth’. Fugerson spends countless hours understanding her subject through the lens of art and science. She learns how they function over a period of time and sketches them from memory. Instead of drawing the subject exactly as it is, she aims to depict it through a human perspective thereby allowing it to evolve into something less scientific and more imaginative, forcing the audience to create their own interpretation of the subject. She also uses wood as the process of creating artwork using it and outcome is different altogether. To many artists, including Fugerson, a finished piece is to be interpreted by the viewer and it is the viewer’s opinion alone where there is no right or wrong interpretation.

Annell Livingston is another science artist whose work is based on geometry, the materialistic world and specifically light and color. She stresses on the interaction between the material, light, and human perception. She uses squares to represent the urban experience and the idea of ‘man over nature’ while adding diagonal lines. This breaks regularity, portraying the uneven flow of nature in the rapidly urbanizing world. She first begins with a randomly selected color that is paired with its contrast. This affects the perception of color as the shapes remain unchanged, and patterns appear and disappear, relating to phenomena of light in nature. Her art is meant to be a commentary on contemporary times that reflects her perspective on nature.

Relfections 1661 | 12x12" (frame 17.5x17.5") acrylic on paper | Annell Livingston

Pine | plaster painting, gold leaf | Katey Berry Furgason

Bone | Plaster paint, gold leaf | Katey Berry Furgason