Ceramics provide a vehicle for Natalie Andrew’s exploration into the sublime aesthetics inherent in lichen. An artist and a biologist, Andrew was permitted by the Arnold Arboretum’s curation department to observe the ‘spontaneous flora’ of lichens occurring in the landscape. The resulting works highlight the texture, depth, and form of lichen against the surface of ceramic.
Natalie Andrew is both a professional biologist and a visual artist whose explorations converge around mosses, slime molds, and other denizens of the forest floor. Integral to her practice is the crossing of the boundaries that separate art and science, allowing them to feed off of each other.
Natalie is currently a Resident Artist at the Harvard Ceramics Program, MA, is the 2018 Artist in Residence at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, KY, and has had residencies at Wellesley College, MA and the McColl Center for Art, NC. She lectures and gives workshops on art and science, and has exhibited in various galleries in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
As a scientist, Natalie has most recently worked at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self Organization in Germany, researching flows and contraction behavior in protoplasmic slime molds. Her previous positions include postdocs at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, and she has published in Nature Cell Biology, PNAS, PLoS Computational Biology and others.
Natalie has received a Ph.D. in Biology, a Masters degree in Cognitive Science, and a Bachelors Degree in Physics with Electronics, all from the University of Birmingham, UK.
This Arnold Arboretum art show will run from Friday, October 14 through February 13. For more information visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu
