These electron-miscoscopy images of diatoms were obtained from a biofilm that grew on pieces of plastic we left to hang for three weeks over the side of our old boat on the filthy Bristol Avon.
The rivers, canals and estuary surrounding and criss-crossing through and under Bristol are teeming with the diatoms essential for supporting all oxygen-dependant life on Earth yet these sites are also strewn with human produced detritus including fossil fuel derived micro-plastics and human effluent. They are full of unseen stories and dark histories, human and more-than-human.
This ongoing project is about finding something beautiful in the most unexpected of places where things often uncomfortably rub up against each other, only to quickly recede out of view, out of reach again.
Art-science project with support from The Brigstow Institute and the Wolfson Bioimaging Facility, University of Bristol, and the West of England Visual Arts Alliance (WEVAA).
Bristol Avon, 2022. A collaboration with Dr Chris Neal, Wolfson.