Glass Microbiology is a body of transparent and colourless glassworks representing global viruses. They are created as an alternative representation to the artificially coloured imagery often seen in the media. In fact, viruses have no colour as they are smaller than the wavelength of light. By extracting the colour from the imagery and creating jewel-like beautiful sculptures in glass, a complex tension arises between the artworks’ beauty and the diseases they represent.
The sculptures are made in collaboration with glassblowers Kim George, Brian Jones and Norman Veitch and are designed in consultation with virologists from the University of Bristol, using a combination of different scientific photographs and models. Photographs of Jerram’s glass artworks are now used widely in medical journals and are seen as useful representations of virology within the scientific community.
Luke Jerram exhibited his microbiology collection at the Usher Gallery in 2011. Agriculture and science have strong ties with Lincolnshire and Jerram’s glass viruses investigate questions around how viruses and disease are perceived in a predominantly rural county.
