SUZANNE STRYK

One day while painting a stag beetle, I caught myself doodling some chromosomes in the suggestive stains on the surrounding paper; it fascinated me that while eye-to-eye with a creature I was simultaneously aware of the invisible genetic codes coiling in its cells. It was as if I'd merged an old artist-naturalist's sensibility with a contemporary awareness of genetics, and this was the beginning of Genomes and Daily Observations, a series of works on paper. Along with the creatures, somewhere in each drawing the DNA double helix, chromosomes, cellular organelles, or A-T-G-C genomic sequence emerge. To enhance the concept of this work for the viewer, I've presented it as an installation, with a grid of drawings, an old artist-naturalist's desk piled with specimens and sketches, and a mirror imprinted with a section of the human genome (a sequence from the lens of the human eye). My hope is that the work suggests questions, such as: how has our knowledge of genetics altered the perception of the natural world? how do we reconcile personal reverence for life with scientific information? and does the mapping of the genome unravel mysteries or actually create more?

---Suzanne Stryk

Gallery Space

Field Naturalist's Desk

Grid of drawings

Mirror with Genomic Sequence