Biography
Rob Kesseler (b. Solihull, UK 1951) is an artist and Emeritus Professor of Arts, Design & Science at Central Saint Martins, London. For over twenty years he has worked with botanical scientists and molecular biologists around the world to explore the living world at a microscopic level. Using a range of complex microscopy processes he creates multi-frame composite images of plant organs. Using a sophisticated coordination of hand, eye and intuition, they are modified by the addition of many subtle layers of colour to reflect functional and structural characteristics to create intense large format photographs that captivate the eye and extend the traditions of botanical art into a contemporary field.
Collaborators include The Jodrell Laboratory Kew, The John Innes Centre, Norwich, MRC Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Germany. He works from studios in London and Corfu and exhibits and lectures internationally. Recent projects include an award-winning series of books on Pollen, Seeds and Fruit with Dr Madeline Harley and Dr Wolfgang Stuppy of Kew, published by Papadakis. He has had solo exhibitions in North America, Chile, Germany and Greece and a feature for the BBC on seeds and climate change. In 2010 Kesseler was Year of Biodiversity Fellow at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and Ambassador for Royal Microscopical Society.Rob Kesseler is a Professor of Arts, Design & Science at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London.
