Visual artists Ke Neil We creates mesmerizing artworks by exploring the similarities between organic and inorganic microscopic patterns.
Ke Neil We draws inspiration for her work from nature, specifically the relationship between order and chaos. “I find the chaotic nature of existence to be very profound,” she expresses, “Order and chaos will always prevail.”. She looks at the way in which order and chaos presents themselves visually in patterns that form in organic and inorganic matter. This fascination with the relationship between the organic and inorganic stems from looking at the structural similarities between the two when examined under a microscope. She explores “the way that things grow and the way they look in the body, in plants, in everything that exists.”. Her work resembles studies of the structures of nerves cells in the brain, plants seen under a microscope, as well as what she describes as “geometric patterns of order and chaos”.
She was recently part of the group exhibition Untitled 3.99 where she put up a series of 3 works titled ‘Order’. These abstract pieces portray the waves and structures of water using lines. “In my work I use dots and lines as my basic mark-making [techniques]. I try to keep it to the simplest building blocks of form. So start with a dot and then the trail of that dot becomes a line,” Ke Neil We explains. This mirrors her exploration of the building blocks of life.
Ke Neil We’s recent body of work is about creating a self-portrait from samples of bacteria and fungus found on different parts of her body. “[I am] trying to see the parts of myself that I otherwise would not see,” Ke Neil We explains, “I am fascinated by microbes because they are an intrinsic part of life and they go unseen.”. From these swabs she has been experimenting with growing the bacteria in Petri dishes, with each forming part of her self-portrait. “The whole idea is that bacteria is organic, so it lives. So over time the work also changes as the bacteria grows, thrives and eventually dies”. This is the direction Ke Neil We is going with her work; the direction of sci-art, combining art and biology.
To keep up with her work check her out on Instagram
