Stunning Glass Sculptures That Combine the Grace of Artistry With the Hard Science of Life

chromosome segments

Illinois-based artist Jiyong Lee has created a stunning line of sculptures he calls the segmentation series which combines together the graceful art of glass modeling with the complex process in which a single human cell becomes life. Lee wrote that his inspiration came from his love of science.

The segmentation series is inspired by my fascination with science of cell, its division and the journey of growth that starts from a single cell and goes through a million divisions to become a life. I work with glass that has transparency and translucency, two qualities that serve as perfect metaphors for what is known and unknown about life science. The segmented, geometrical forms of my work represent cells, embryos, biological and molecular structures—each symbolizing the building blocks of life as well as the starting point of life.

green and black drosophila blastoderm

red orange core cube segmentation

white-orange cuboid biaxial segmentation

white-purple cube segmentation

genetic building block-white

images via Jiyong Lee

via My Modern Met