Intangibles encompasses parallel explorations of molecular form in sculpture and in photographs that beg comparison with the more familiar geography of the macroscopic everyday world. The portrayal of landscapes that cannot be traveled and sculpture that cannot be touched is emblematic of the virtual gallery as a whole and issues a challenge to conventional perceptions of reality. Plato's Republic gives an allegory of a hypothetical cave in which prisoners are kept from birth. At once both realist and abstract, the photography explores the surface geography of molecules, comparing them to the landscape of the American southwest. The sculpture draws upon the same source, marrying truth and beauty through an expression of molecular organization in abstract mien.
Biological molecules constitute the thematic rock upon which the exhibit is founded.
Proteins include both the enzymes that mediate metabolism and the structural proteins that give support to cell and to body. The overall shape and function of any given type of protein is determined by its unique sequence of amino acids. His research interests include the visualization of scientific subjects and their ultimate subversion for artistic ends. His work has appeared in a number of publications including National Geographic , Scientific American and LIFE , for which he created the April '98 cover. The Gallery and its contents are copyright Kenneth Eward 1998, all rights reserved.