Luke Jerram is an installation artist in the UK.  For the last several years he has been expanding his collection of glass microbiology pieces which depict the microorganisms responsible for making us sick.

E Coli

According to the official website: The sculptures were designed in consultation with virologists from the University of Bristol using a combination of different scientific photographs and models. They were made in collaboration with glassblowers Kim George, Brian Jones and Norman Veitch.

HIV

Inspired by his color blindness, Jerram decided to make each of these sculptures transparent.  Often diagrams of viruses are artificially colored and Jerram feels that the colors chosen can affect emotional impact and other responses towards these images.  By making them transparent he challenges the viewer’s perception.

SARS

Jerram explains what he hopes people will take away from the work: “I hope they’ll get a sense of the beauty of virology. But also there’s that fascinating tension between something that is very beautiful but which also dangerous and is having a terrible impact on humanity.”

Swine Flu

Swine Flu detail

There’s a letter posted to the site that Luke received in September 2009 testifying to the power of these sculptures:

Dear Luke, 
I just saw a photo of your glass sculpture of HIV.
I can’t stop looking at it. Knowing that millions of those guys are in me, and will be a part of me for the rest of my life. Your sculpture, even as a photo, has made HIV much more real for me than any photo or illustration I’ve ever seen. It’s a very odd feeling seeing my enemy, and the eventual likely cause of my death, and finding it so beautiful.
Thank you.

If I didn’t know that the pieces were inspired by microbiology, I might think they were simply beautiful abstract glass work.  The glass gives them a vulnerability.  It’s easy to imagine smashing one to bits with a hammer.  It’s hard to reconcile the images with the damage their real counterparts can do on the human body.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 11:47 am and is filed under Decorations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.