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First in the Protocells Triptych, created in collaboration with David Deamer, biomolecular engineer, University of California Santa Cruz. The first steps on the evolutionary path toward primitive life was a spontaneous self-assembly process in which lipid molecules become organized into spherical membranous compartments that contain polymers resembling nucleic acids. Trillions of protocells are generated from just a few milligrams of lipid. Each protocell is like a microscopic experiment in which inanimate matter is finding ways to become alive. If you cut open a protocell, you will be looking at molecules made of atoms born over 4.5 billion years ago in exploding and colliding stars. As Carl Sagan said, "We're made of star stuff."

"My painting takes off from nature inspired by science, especially from cell biology and botany. While much art depicts the world at the human scale (landscapes, portraits, apples in a bowl) I often start with cell membranes, the inside of cells, the silk spigots of spiders, lichens — the world of the tiny. By depicting natural forms in an imagined, mythical world, my paintings reveal the human psyche and its capacity to go beneath the surface of things; to experience beauty and awe and even fear; to understand that we humans are connected to all the other creatures on earth and even to the cosmos. I enjoy observing and reading about nature, but I am not a scientific illustrator in the conventional sense. I do study my subject matter...