Nano Systems explores the evolutionary intersection of biology and technology through an imagined universe known as the Nanoverse. Combining digital and analog collage, painting, silkscreen, resin casting, and sculptural assemblage, the exhibition presents speculative technological systems, augmented body parts, manufactured viruses, and miniature nanobot sculptures. Densely layered compositions take the shape of asymmetrical mandalas, suggesting planetary systems or microscopic environments within a larger technological universe. Accompanying narrative collages transport the viewer onto the surfaces of these imagined planets, revealing fragmented scenes in which biological, technological, and cosmic elements coexist. Bands of color and energy-like structures traverse the skies, while nanobots appear suspended within environments whose physical or holographic nature remains uncertain.
Developed from concepts dating back to 2005, the work imagines nanobots as microscopic systems managers integrated into the human body, maintaining, modifying, and potentially replacing biological functions. Several elements revisit work from my 2007 MFA thesis exhibition, including miniature nanobot sculptures originally modeled in plasticine and cast in resin using silicone molds. Previously presented as part of a complete body, the augmented body parts were reconfigured into an à la carte collection of replacement components, incorporating nanobot tattoos and suggesting a future in which biological modification becomes a matter of individual selection.
At the center of Nano Systems is a tension between technological advancement and the imperfections that define human experience. Drawing from science fiction, comic books, early computing, Cubism, and Jungian mandalas, the work questions whether the pursuit of technological perfection might fundamentally alter the cultural narratives, behaviors, and identities that make us human. The series considers technology as both a liberating and destabilizing force, asking whether humanity can achieve a balance between biological and technological evolution without surrendering the qualities that distinguish human existence.
Materials
Digital and analog collage, acrylic paint, silkscreen, epoxy resin, Baltic birch plywood, painted Sintra, cast resin, vinyl, and mixed-media assemblage.
Digital and analog collage, acrylic paint, silkscreen, epoxy resin, Baltic birch plywood, painted Sintra, cast resin, vinyl, and mixed-media assemblage.
Exhibition
Shift Gallery
Seattle, 2015
Shift Gallery
Seattle, 2015
Nanosystems 1, 2016, digital print on paper, XX × XX in.
