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More DNA Inspired Art: Geraldine Ondrizek’s Chromosome Painting

 

So speaking a little while ago of DNA inspired art, I recently learned about Geraldline Ondrizek’s Chromosome Painting and couldn’t resist sharing.

Ondrizek is a research-based textile and installation artist who teaches at Reed College in Portland, OR. Since 2001, she has worked with geneticists and biologists to gather and compose images of human cellular tissue and genetic tests that relate to ethnic identity and disease, ultimately creating architectural-scaled works “that house medical and biological information.”

For Chromosome Painting – an exhibit that originated at the University of Washington Medical Center and, since then, has had some continued life in other spaces – Ondrizek connected with a team of leading genetic researchers, a collaboration that inspired new works “that forged visual, scientific and metaphorical discoveries.” As curator Genevieve Gaiser Tremblay elaborates, “The works featured in this exhibit explore the nature of our bio-cultural differences and similarities.”

I always love contemplating the ways in which different kinds of artists engage with similar subjects or questions in their work. Ondrizek’s creations are rooted in her scientific research, manifesting in a variety of materials such as long silk panels, paint, and light boxes, while I take a more expressionistic approach and work almost exclusively with glass; and yet, there is a kindred relationship between Chromosome Paintings and certain of my DNA inspired art glass installations. It’s not only in the colors and the referencing of grids; there’s something about the energy and the nature of the inspiration embedded in the work – the very “DNA,” if you will.

Click here to learn more about Ondrizek, and here to see some of my own work in the realm of Science and Technology.