Piece description from the artist
An "artist's diagram" of a eukaryotic cell – a cell with a nucleus. Even though the shape is a bit squared off, the details of the piece clearly make this a eukaryotic animal cell and not a plant cell. The clue is in the outer membrane, where a number of fine line drawn patterns suggest the head and tail molecular structure of amphiphiles, arranged in a bilayer membrane pattern. Other fine line elements suggest membrane and transmembrane proteins with helical, beta sheet, and turn elements depicted. An artist's diagram of a plant cell would replace these amphiphilic and soft membrane structures with something more indicative of cellulosic helicoid microstructures.
The nucleus is clearly represented and is just full of organized Double helical DNA. The cytoplasm is represented using non-uniform stippled patterns. It is a complex structured fluid, after all. Other structures within the cytoplasm suggest organelles, as yet unidentified.
"Eukaryotic" has many of the elements of a scientific diagram, yet is intended as art. As Art, it deviates from many of the tacit rules and features that create a "good" scientific diagram or illustration. While it does convey some technical information, the deviations from technical illustration also allow the piece to convey evocative and emotional content, capturing some of the mystery and wonder of exploring the worlds inside a microscope.
Dr. Regina Valluzzi has an extensive scientific background in nanotechnology and biophysics. She has been a scientist in the chemical industry, a green chemistry researcher, a research professor at the engineering school at Tufts, a start-up founder engaged in technology commercialization, and a start-up and commercialization consultant.
Even during periods of intense activity as a scientist, Dr. Valluzzi has always held a strong interest in the visual arts and in visual information. While she majored in Materials Science at MIT, she also obtained a second degree in music and a minor in visual studies. Visual arts have managed to permeate her technical work; during her Ph.D in Polymer Science and Engineering at UMass Amherst, she completed a thesis that required advanced electron microscopy, image analysis, and theoretical data modeling. These experiences provided the visual insight and information that now influences much of her artwork.
Dr. Valluzzi’s work has been included in private collections across the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Dubai and Malta, and in the corporate collection of "Seyfarth Shaw" Boston law offices around Boston. She has a selection of pieces on loan to the MIT Materials Science and Engineering Department as indoor public art. Her accomplishments include having published thirty articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, having made several scientific patents, having been a subject matter expert for an encyclopedia chapter, and having been invited to speak at science talks across the US, Europe, and Japan.
Her newsletter is a good source of ongoing information: http://eepurl.com/daiLQ
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