Under the Microscope Traveling Art Exhibition

This nationally traveling art and science exhibit by South Carolina artist Alicia Leeke consists of 18 2-D, digitally created paintings based on images of microorganisms known as phytoplankton. The collection showcases the beauty of these creatures, which were collected from water bodies in South Carolina, such as tidal creeks, lakes and ponds, including Darryl Creek in Mount Pleasant and Quinine Hill Lake in Columbia.

Leeke partnered with Dr. Tammi L. Richardson from the University of South Carolina’s Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Science Program to create a colorful abstract, digital body of paintings on photographic paper. Leeke collected these plankton samples, then photographed them using Richardson’s Nikon Eclipse TS100 inverted microscope and a Nikon Infinity 1 digital camera. The artistic interpretations were completed by manipulating the photographs with a digital paint brush. 

This project uses art to educate audiences about the importance of phytoplankton in relation to all living things on the planet and the need to maintain healthy, sustainable oceans and water bodies.    

Leeke hopes the exhibition will encourage more partnerships between scientists and artists as well as increase community awareness about the importance of arts-based learning as an educational tool in non-artistic disciplines.