paintings, 2018

1. ondes

EN : 2018. Cyanotypes, solarfast & screen prints of bacteria paintings made by the artist from drawings made with bioluminescent bacteria (kanamycin) (with the assistance of Patrick Torbey, PhD), and microscopic brain imagery (rat hippocampal neurons, courtesy of Maria Joana Pinto, PhD), superposed with aerial images of American landscapes destroyed by aluminum waste and the Rio Tinto mine in Spain (images courtesy of J Henry Fair), handmade recycled paper, natural French and Italian pigments, linseed oil and Sennelier #greenforoil painting medium on canvas. 6.5’ x 4.5’ (195cm x 130cm). 

FR : 2018. Cyanotypes, tirages solarfast  et sérigraphies (à motif des dessins aux bactéries kanamycin de l’artiste, photographies microscopiques du cerveau d’un rat (neurones hippocampiques) et photographie aérienne de la terre américaine polluée par des phosphates et de la mine de Rio Tinto en Espagne), papier recyclé fabriqué à la main, pigments naturels provenant de la terre française et italienne, huile de lin et Sennelier « green for oil » médium à peindre écologique sur toile. 195cm x 130cm.

installation 1. Edge: Blurring the Borders Between Art and Neuroscience, Heizkraftwerk, Steglitz, Berlin, Germany, 2019

about the work

Ondes was born when four very different people, representing six nationalities and four different and areas of study, met in Paris. Taylor Smith, an American artist-in-residence in Paris, was introduced to Nora Assendorp (Germany/Netherlands) and Maria Joana Pinto (Portugal), two molecular neuroscientists (PhD candidate and Post-doc respectively), as well as Patrick Torbey (France/Lebanon), a molecular biologist finishing his PhD. Quite naturally, we all started talking about organic forms. This large-scale, mixed-media painting was the centerpiece of two of Taylor’s recent solo exhibitions: Symbiosis (2018) and How to Capture Flow (2019). Within the two-dimensional space of the canvas, microscopic images recorded by Maria are fused with aerial images of destroyed landscapes taken by photographer and environmental activist J Henry Fair, in addition to Taylor’s own personal images of natural patterns (the veins of tropical leaves, bark patterns…). The aesthetic parallels between these microscopic, macroscopic and aerial images of our planet’s landscapes and life forms, taken by five different people, are uncanny and merit both scientific and artistic explanations. Our personal associations to these forms and patterns are subjective and, throughout the exhibition, spurred a variety of interpretations amongst visitors. However, everyone recognized that the dominant subject of this painting is the brain.

The idea for the final composition begin with an image from Maria of a primary culture of rat hippocampal neurons taken with a confocal microscope. Maria’s image was taken for a project that aimed to explore the mechanisms leading to the formation of new  synapses, in particular the presynaptic side of synaptic contacts. These presynaptic bouttons are assembled during development along neuronal ramifications (in the original image as long threads in gray, stained for tubulin). This image was then mixed with photographs from bioluminescent bacterial cultures created with Patrick. Taylor used different concentrations of bacteria to paint directly onto an agar gel petri dish with Patrick’s help, using a variety of tools. These bacteria contain exogenous DNA that code for enzymes and reagents involved in a chemical reaction that produces turquoise light. After leaving the bacteria to grow overnight, colonies emerged forming mesmerizing glowing patterns in the agar dishes that were then photographed by Patrick.

Preserving the beauty and forms of the original scientific images is something Taylor never forgets to do while working. The first layer of Ondes was actually created using a nineteenth century photographic process (John Herschel, 1842), initially used by botanists, called the cyanotype. In order to produce the initial cyanotype, she first superposed and played with the original microscopic, macroscopic, and aerial images in Photoshop. The combined image was then printed as a large negative (195 x 130cm). This negative was placed onto a canvas covered in photosensitive chemicals (a mix of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate, along with Solarfast, a recently invented multi-colored photosensitive dye). Finally, the ensemble was laid outside in direct sunlight for several hours. Nature ran its course, and Taylor was not satisfied with the sun’s initial interpretation of the image. After a second exposure, she could begin to paint and collage smaller cyanotypes of the same images, printed on Japanese washi paper, into the composition, until it was finished.

The colors used in the painting repeat in many of Taylor’s works and, for her, reference the colors of the four elements of the Earth. Finally, the title was chosen for many reasons. Signifying “waves” in English, “ondes” is a word that allows for many interpretations in both French and English: it can reference the wave forms and creases of the canvas material, those produced as a two-dimensional illusion through painting, and even the vibrations and sound waves we can imagine coming from the synapses themselves. French philosopher Georges Didi-Huberman also defines “onde” broadly as “spacing, form and background” that can be modeled and printed, often providing the illusion of an aura. With the many layers of materials, research, and subjective experiences it combines, Ondes leaves plenty of room for the viewer’s imagination while still showing and highlighting the beauty of the biological samples it is based upon.

Text by Taylor Smith and Nora Assendorp, submission for The Art of Neuroscience, 2018.

installation 2. Fondation des etats-unis, paris, france, 2019

Ondes is presented as an installation along with the processes that generated it. Under plexiglass tiles (2m x 1m) lies a composition resembling my studio floor when I created this piece. The individual elements later incorporated into the painting are presented in a chaotic, yet carefully composed selection of paper cyanotypes and the negatives used to produce the first layer of this painting (a cyanotype/solarfast print embedded into the canvas, incorporating superposed microscopic photographs of rat neurons, macroscopic photos of my bioluminescent bacteria drawings, and aerial images of rivers filled with phosphate waste). The viewer is thereby encouraged to look back and forth between the process reflected before the result, showing how the two depend on each other to create a continuous whole.

INSTALLATION 3. CHARITE CROSSOVER (CCO), BERLIN, GERMANY, 2019

2. UNDERTOW

EN: 2018. Cyanotype made from microscopic photographs of collected abalone shells and coral (Portugal, Spain...) and macroscopic photographs of the opuntia rufida Cristala cactus (Botanical Garden of Madrid), and Icelandic landscapes, all photographed by me. Microscopic image of the human cerebellum and aeral photograph of terrace farming (courtesy J. Henry Fair). Japanese iwa enogu (crushed glass) pigments, French and Italian natural pigments, and linseed oil on canvas. 25.6’’ x 19.7’’ (65cm x 50cm). 

FR : 2018. Cyanotype à motif de photographies microscopiques de coquilles abalone, coraux, et photographies macroscopiques des cactus opuntia rufida Cristala (jardin botanique de Madrid), et des paysages islandais. Image aérienne de terrace farming prise par J. Henry Fair, 2018. Pigments naturels italiens et français et pigments iwa enogu japonais et huile de lin sur toile. 50cm x 65cm. 

3. STALACTIFICIAL

EN: 2018. Cyanotypes, solarfast prints, screen prints and monotypes of microscopic images of basalt and the brain (rat hippocampal neurons, courtesy of Maria Joana Pinto, PhD and the human cerebellum), and photos taken by the artist of stalactites in the Gouffre de Padirac and Grotte de Clamouse (2 grottos in the south of France) and at an abandoned copper refinery in Inujima, Ja-pan. Japanese iwa enogu (crushed glass) pigments, French and Italian natural pigments, and linseed oil on canvas. 130cm x 97cm

FR: 2018. Cyanotypes, tirages solarfast, monotypes et sérigraphies (à motif des dessins aux bactéries E coli de l’artiste, photographies aériennes des paysages détruits par l’homme (Hiroshima après la bombe nucléaire, mine Rio Tinto, Espagne…), photographies microscopiques du cerveau humain (synapses, cellules gliales), et photographies prises par l’artiste des affineries de cuivre et du paysage japonais), 130cm x 97cm.

4. plasmic strands

EN: Plasmic Strands, 2018. Cyanotype of microscopic photographs of neurons (rat hippocampal neurons, courtesy of Maria Joana Pinto, PhD), macroscopic photographs of ficus magnoliode tree roots (Palermo, Sicily) and mycellia taken by the artist, Japanese iwa enogu (crushed glass) pigments, French and Italian natural pigments, and linseed oil on canvas. 39.3’’ x 29.5’’  (100cm x 75cm). Private collection, Paris, France

FR : Plasmic Strands, 2018. Cyanotype (à motif des photographies microscopiques du cerveau d’un rat et photographies macroscopiques des racines de l’arbre ficus magnoliode (Palerme, Sicile)), pigments japonais iwa enogu (verre écrasé), et pigments naturels provenant de la terre française et italienne, huile de lin sur toile 100cm x 75cm. Collection privée, Paris, France.

INSTALLATION

Installation of Plasmic Strands, part of the exhibition How to Capture Flow, Fondation des États-Unis, Paris, 2019. The work is presented with the processes that generated it (negatives used to make cyanotypes incorporating superposed tree roots (ficus magnolioide tree, Botanical Garden, Palermo, Sicily) and rat hippocampal neurons). Palm tree bark collected in Palermo, Mallorca, New Orleans and Madrid along with aracae leaves from the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, are interwoven into the plexiglass composition that is covered with a blue film. Live philodenron leaves held in hand-blown glass vases are positioned so that their shadows interact with the forms within the painting. The cyclical movement of the cellular-like forms in the painting respond to the reflexions of the philodendron leaves on the plexiglass.

5. through footed channels

EN: Through Footed Channels, 2018. Cyanotypes, solarfast and screen prints of the artist’s bacteria paintings (made with bioluminescent bacteria (kanamycin) with the assistance of Patrick Torbey, PhD), and microscopic brain imagery (rat hippocampal neurons, courtesy of Maria Joana Pinto, PhD and the human cerebellum), aerial images of destroyed landscapes (archival photograph of Hiroshima after the bombing, courtesy Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and photograph of pollution produced by the Rio Tinto mine, Spain, courtesy J Henry Fair), macroscopic photographs taken by the artist of an abandoned copper refinery in Inujima, Japan. Japanese iwa enogu (crushed glass) pigments, French and Italian natural pigments and Sennelier sustainable green for oil painting medium on canvas. 57.7’’ x 35’’ (146cm x 89cm). Private collection, Dallas, TX.

FR : Through Footed Channels, 2018. Cyanotypes, tirages solarfast et sérigraphies (à motif des dessins aux bactéries E coli de l’artiste, photographies aériennes des paysages détruits par l’homme (Hiroshima après la bombe nucléaire, mine Rio Tinto, Espagne…), photographies microscopiques du cerveau humain (synapses, cellules gliales), et photographies prises par l’artiste des affineries de cuivre et du paysage japonais), papier washi japonais, pigments japonais iwa enogu (verre écrasé), et pigments naturels provenant de la terre française et italienne, huile de lin et Sennelier « green for oil » médium à peindre écologique sur toile. 146cm x 89cm. Collection privée, Dallas, TX, États-Unis

6. looped

EN: Cyanotpes, anthotypes and screen prints based on macroscopic photographs taken by the artist of stratified basalt and volcanic landscapes in Iceland, aerial photos  of the great barrier reef, monotypes, preserved leaves collected in New Orleans, Japanese iwa enogu (crushed glass) pigments, French and Italian natural pigments, and linseed oil on canvas. Research for the composition of this painting was based on the metamorphic formation of basalt columns. 45.7’’ x 31.9’’ (116 x 81cm). Private Collection, Paris, France

FR : 2018. Cyanotpes, anthotypes et sérigraphies à motif des photographies macroscopiques de formations de basalte stratifiée et paysages islandais volcaniques, et photos aériennes des récifs coralliens. Monotypes, feuilles collectionnées à Nouvelle Orléans, pigments organiques provenant du Japon, de l’Italie et de la France, huile de lin sur toile. 116 x 81cm. Recherches basées sur la formation métamorphique du basalte. Collection privée, Paris, France

7. study for unfurled

EN: 2018. Collage composed of preserved cactus skeletons and palm tree bark collected in Sicily, Mallorca and New Orleans, Parisian preserved leaves and metro posters, hand-made and dyed recycled paper, marbled paper, cyanotypes, anthotypes, chlorophyll prints, and screen prints of the human cerebellum superposed with an aerial photograph of pollution produced by the Rio Tinto mine, Spain (courtesy J Henry Fair ). Paint using Japanese iwa enogu (crushed glass) pigments, French and Italian natural pigments, and linseed oil on paper. 19.3’’ x 31.1’’ (49cm x 79cm). Private collection, Dallas, TX.

FR : Étude pour Unfurled, 2018. Squelettes de cactus et écorces de palmier collectionnées en Sicile, Mallorque et Nouvelle Orléans, feuilles, affiches de métro, papier recyclé fabriqué à la main, papier marbré, cyanotypes, anthotypes, tirages à chlorophylle, sérigraphies du cervelet humain, pigments organiques provenant du Japon et de l’Italie, huile de lin sur papier. 49cm x 79cm. Collection privée, Dallas, Texas, États-Unis.