One of Britain's best-loved wildflowers, the Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) is the subject of Bringing into focus, a stunning new art exhibition at the University's Botanic Garden.
One of Britain's best-loved wildflowers, the Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) is the subject of Bringing into focus, a stunning new art exhibition at the University's Botanic Garden.
Artist Pauline Aitken's work explores the process of life and change through its detailed focus on botanic forms, in particular the reproductive and petal cells of the fritillary, which is a protected flower. Working with staff at the School of Biological Sciences and its scanning electron microscope team, Pauline has used digital technologies to translate micro investigations of the flowers' structure into dramatic, colourful large-scale images onto a variety of media.
The stunning images will fill the Botanic Garden's Alpine House, home to the country's national collection of fritillaries. The exhibition will coincide both with the peak flowering of its fritillary collection and the Cambridge Science Festival.
Pauline explains her fascination with this delicate plant:
"Using a high-power microscope is like taking a journey across unknown terrain where fascinating and surprising landscapes are revealed and novel and intriguing organic structures are found."
The exhibition is part of Pauline's one-year research residency at the University, funded by East England Arts '6 of the Best' Awards and Awards for Artists. Her work in the School of Biological Sciences involves collaborations with the Anatomy Visual Media Group and the Multi Imaging Centre.
The exhibition will run until 22 April. For further details visit the Botanic Garden website.
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