Artist Spotlight

Botany as art – in close detail

Sam Mescon

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Whether on an apartment windowsill, between city sidewalk cracks, or on a dirt road in rural backcountry, plant life surrounds us. Yet how often do we stop to take a close look at its many mysteries? In William Scully’s recent photography series “Microbotanicals,” he gives us the opportunity to overcome the phenomenon he calls “plant blindness” and explore the microscopic beauties found in nature.

While Scully shoots entirely with a digital camera, he modifies his camera to give his photos a distinctive sense of abstraction. In his early body of work, “The Unseen Light,” Scully used an infrared camera with long exposure techniques to render photographs of common marsh plants as a surrealist black and white abstraction. In “Microbotanicals,” Scully challenges our visual confidence by presenting images of ordinary plants that appear hyper-realistic, but in reality are deceivingly abstract in form, function, and truth.

As the viewer examines the works of art in “Microbotanicals,” they see a single, large, organic shape composed of what appears to be an infinite number of small cells in various vibrant colors and shapes. In fact, what they’re seeing is a highly constructed, composite image. Scully renders these images of plant specimens through an extremely laborious and technical process.

Using a microscope as a lens, the magnified image shines directly onto his camera’s sensor. However, only a partial view of the plant specimen can be captured at one time; he creates a final image that encompasses the entire slide by stitching together smaller sections using a software program. Moreover, because of the microscope’s extremely narrow focusing capability, Scully must capture multiple photographs of each section, incrementally changing the focus each time. Another piece of software then stitches together the in-focus areas of these identically composed photographs, to create a final, perfectly sharp, image for that section.

The resulting work, a composite from hundreds of photographs, displays an undeniably beautiful yet idealized version of these specimens, bringing into question how truthful these images really are. If everything Scully photographs is there, but not there at the same time, is what we are seeing an accurate representation of a biological specimen?

The inherent convergence of art and science throughout this work connects it to the history of botanical illustrations, such as the revolutionary lithographs of German scientist and artist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919). His illustrations of natural design educated thousands on the biological construction of different plants and animals.

While Scully does not intend for his work to be educational like Haeckel’s, for most of us, these images allow us to analyze these specimens from a new perspective, thus redefining our appreciation for botany in everyday life. Instead of being about education and accuracy, they are simply about finding beauty and letting go of needing to be truthful.

In “Microbotanicals,” Scully includes a number of images of the cross-sections of various edible plants such as apples, squash, and asparagus along with sections of common tree branches and grass. When slides of these specimens are manufactured for microscopic viewing, they are injected with colorful dyes that allow for a clear illustration of the different cellular structures. The mesmerizing beauty of the naturally occurring geometric shapes and repeating patterns in these images largely dismisses any concern we have about them being scientifically accurate.

In “Syringa vulgaris,” a longitudinal section of a single lilac floret reveals the sensual anthropomorphic qualities that repeat in nature. The recognizable outlines of flower petals retain a light shade of turquoise that wonderfully complements the inner red ovaries of the plant.

Further, in “Trifolium pratense,” commonly called red clover, single-celled red fragments orbit the image. The juxtaposition of light green smaller cells in the center and dark green larger cells that bulge outward allows the viewer to feel the three-dimensional quality of these cross-sections that repeat throughout the series. Scully’s immaculately calibrated images encourage us to read dynamic relationships of form and composition, to find intriguing cellular patterns and beauty far beyond the reach of the human eye.

Since Scully started photographing 13 years ago, he has methodically produced works of nature, each time sharing a unique interpretation of how natural beauty can be observed. “Microbotanicals” adds a level of philosophical complexity by asking us to question the relevance of truth and accuracy in his work. If Scully succeeds at presenting unseen beauty in nature, even through scientific means, does it really matter how he gets there?

‘Tilia americana,’ Pistil (cross section), common name: Basswood/Linden, magnification: 64X, composite of 430 images, from the series “Microbotanicals.” WILLIAM SCULLY

PHOTOS/ARTSWORCESTER

‘Syringa vulgaris,’ Floret (longitudinal section), common name: Lilac, magnification: 16X, composite of 406 images, from the series “Microbotanicals.”