“Fragile Forms: Laura Splan and Luke Jerram”
Curated by Emmanuelle Russo
May 26 to July 25, 2025
Reception: July 8, 2025 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm
NYU Langone Art Gallery
550 1st Ave, New York, NY 10016
ON VIEW BY APPOINTMENT ONLY: Email Emmanuelle.Russo@nyulangone.org
“Fragile Forms: Laura Splan and Luke Jerram” unveils the hidden beauty within the invisible and often fearsome world of viruses. Featuring the glass microbiology sculptures of Luke Jerram and the textile and digital molecular visualization works of Laura Splan, the exhibition transforms microscopic pathogens into breathtaking objects of art, inviting viewers to experience a sense of wonder and reflection. This is Splan’s second exhibition in the gallery following “Manifest” (2017), a solo exhibition of Splan’s prints, sculptures, and weavings made with electromyography data-driven patterns.
“Fragile Forms" features Splan's “Doilies” (2004) and “Renatured” (2020), both exploring molecular visualization of the microbial world. “Doilies” is a series of digitally fabricated lace sculptures depicting viruses created using a computerized embroidery process. The Doilies series re-examines the lace doily as an innocuous domestic artifact that traditionally references motifs from nature. The design of each doily in the series is based on a different enveloped virus structure (HIV, SARS, Influenza, Herpes, Hepadna). The radial symmetry of the doily and aesthetic conventions of lace are conflated with that of the virus structure. Here, the DNA, RNA, protein spikes, and lipid envelopes become unassuming decorative motif. The project explores the “domestication” of biomedical imagery in the quotidian landscape. “Renatured” is a series of prints that present mesmerizing meditations on invisible entanglements between natural and constructed worlds. The digital images are created using molecular visualization software and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein models. They include playful manipulations of folded protein forms, known as “conformations”, which determine biological function including infectivity. Using specialized features of molecular visualization software in unconventional ways, the coronavirus spike protein is transformed by unraveling and morphing the folded and unfolded forms.
“Fragile Forms: Laura Splan and Luke Jerram” unveils the hidden beauty within the invisible and often fearsome world of viruses. Featuring the glass microbiology sculptures of Luke Jerram and the textile and digital molecular visualization works of Laura Splan, the exhibition transforms microscopic pathogens into breathtaking objects of art, inviting viewers to experience a sense of wonder and reflection. This is Splan’s second exhibition in the gallery following “Manifest” (2017), a solo exhibition of Splan’s prints, sculptures, and weavings made with electromyography data-driven patterns.
“Fragile Forms" features Splan's “Doilies” (2004) and “Renatured” (2020), both exploring molecular visualization of the microbial world. “Doilies” is a series of digitally fabricated lace sculptures depicting viruses created using a computerized embroidery process. The Doilies series re-examines the lace doily as an innocuous domestic artifact that traditionally references motifs from nature. The design of each doily in the series is based on a different enveloped virus structure (HIV, SARS, Influenza, Herpes, Hepadna). The radial symmetry of the doily and aesthetic conventions of lace are conflated with that of the virus structure. Here, the DNA, RNA, protein spikes, and lipid envelopes become unassuming decorative motif. The project explores the “domestication” of biomedical imagery in the quotidian landscape. “Renatured” is a series of prints that present mesmerizing meditations on invisible entanglements between natural and constructed worlds. The digital images are created using molecular visualization software and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein models. They include playful manipulations of folded protein forms, known as “conformations”, which determine biological function including infectivity. Using specialized features of molecular visualization software in unconventional ways, the coronavirus spike protein is transformed by unraveling and morphing the folded and unfolded forms.
