WORCESTER, MASS.- Blinded by Science, an exhibit of work by five regional artists all of whom are inspired by science, opens at the Krikorian Gallery of the Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road, on Thursday, August 1 during the Craft Center’s annual extravaganza, HOT NIGHT IN THE CITY. Blinded by Science will be on view through September 14, 2013. Artists represented in the show include Carrie Crane, Linda Huey of Boston/New York State, Deanna Leamon of Worcester, Michelle Lougee of Cambridge, and Guhapriya Ranganthan of Wayland.
The exhibit is being organized by guest curator Carrie Crane and emerges from Carrie and the Craft Center’s interest in the intersection of art and science. Carrie, a recipient of a 2012 Worcester Arts Council grant, was artist in residence in Arshad Kudrolli’s Materials Physics Lab at Clark University for the past year collaborating with researchers, developing a body of work, and sharing her creative process. The Craft Center’s disciplines of glass, metals, photography, and ceramics all engage science properties in their processes.
“There is a lot of interest in this area of cross-disciplinary collaboration, involving visual, performing and literary arts and a wide range of scientific research. I am a strong believer that both the researcher and the artist can benefit from collaboration, the scientist providing the artist with a rich palette of knowledge to feed their imagination and the artist providing the scientist insight into a creative process that may feed their research,“ said Carrie, “I wanted to bring more exposure in Worcester to this art/science movement.” The work resulting from her time spent in the Clark University Physics Lab will be on view in the exhibit and explores the patterns created by the packing of spherical shapes.
Linda Huey, of Boston and New York State, will install her larger-than-life ceramic garden, Dark Garden. The five to nine foot tall plants have a suggestion of beauty and fragility but call into focus the complexity of environmental issues. “I would like to bring attention to the question of what our society values, the effects of our values on the environment and how fragile or strong nature will be to counteract the damage we do.”
Deanna Leamon, a Worcester artist, will be showing work resulting from her time spent in the Anatomy lab at South Carolina University. Deanna using her strong mark making skills explores the shapes, sizes and complexities of the human form.
Cambridge artist, Michelle Lougee’s work explores the intersection of evolution and genetic engineering prodding the viewer into seeing possible conflicts between nature and technology. Her latest work, Pomus Ingenium (Engineered Fruit), is a series of genetically altered fruits presented as a laboratory installation.
Guhapriya Ranganthan, of Wayland, spent 18 months as artist-in-residence at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, collaborating with genomic research scientists and applied mathematician, Erez Lieberman Aiden. Her residency resulted in her 60-drawings piece which explores the infinite possibilities of the curve as it unfolds. “In this series, I studied the different layers of lines and structures that inform and reflect the complexity of the genomic landscape.” Other mixed media, 2D and 3D work from her residency will be included in the exhibition.
