Trying to Make Art of Life

Nikki Romanello,  whose work blurs the line between art and science, invites viewers to contemplate their place in the web of life.

The evolution of Romanello’s art reflects evolution in nature: Found bones become bones cast in glycerin, which become skeletal animals from alternate pre-histories, which in turn become prints. In her latest project, she uses “living paper” created by feeding kombucha tea to bacteria to create sculptures of tubeworms that live near hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean.

She wants her art to reflect the transience of existence, the haphazard nature of evolution and the connections between all living creatures.