today i am a biologist

 

Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping. –    Julia Margaret Cameron

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This is the second time I make a map. The first, a few years back, was a map of the city of Phoenix laid out as a living cell. I made it for an invitational exhibition called You Are Here. That summer I saw myself as a cartographer. With this new drawing the cell itself is primary, the city is secondary and I am a biologist mapping out the smallest unit of life.

In esoteric teaching it’s believed there exists a blueprint of the physical body. Changes in the body occur in the blueprint before they appear into its physical form. As I work I think there must be a blueprint for each and every individual cell. Imagine that!

I can probably still call this work You are Here. You think cells are inside you but in fact you are in each cell. Are you the life in each tiny cell? Could you in fact be the maker of each cell?

Am I the maker of the blueprint?  Am I the one who maps out each and every cell? I can only say for certain – today I am.

Detail shot of the cell.

The Nucleus controls activities and contains the cells genetic material (DNA). The And the Endoplasmic Reticulum is like a labrynth holding and moving molecules.

The Golgi Body packages proteins and lipids before they get sent to their destination.

The Mitochondria is the power plant of the cell and holds its own DNA

I didn’t plan to work this big but in the end it’s allowed for me to really think about the space I fill – the space I live in.

 

cell study and the mitochondria

One source informs me there are over 10 trillion cells in the human body, another says 34 trillion. Discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665, I like that he thought it resembled cells inhabited by Christian monks in a monastery. It brings a little of the sacred into the picture. 34 trillion sacred cells!

I mapped out a living cell a few years ago. And after all I have learned, I return to basics (with new eyes) determined not to place anything into my composition until I have a better grasp of what it does. Slow  -S-L-O-W-  going this week.

The large circular form ↑ is the Nucleus. The word is Latin in origin and means kernel. It controls cell function. The nucleus holds the DNA.  What I learn about the Nucleolus (dense [purple] area in nucleus) and the Endoplasmic Reticulum (greenish areas) makes me want to ingest high-quality protein as often as possible.

And then there is the Mitochondria ↓ which comes from the Greek,  mitos meaning thread and chondrion meaning granule or grain-like.  They are part of our body’s microcircuitry.  Think power-house. The mitochondria make the physical energy of our cells AND they form subtle energies that connect to meridians. It’s this latter find that causes me to isolate it here.

I heard someone say yesterday that artists don’t present answers, they present questions. I have so many….