Lace and science

 

Collecting some images of scientific subjects depicted in lace has confirmed what an excellent medium lace is for depicting biological and medical subjects. The piece above is a detail from a piece I made entitled ‘Thread of life’ showing a bundle of foetal cells dividing. Both bobbin and needle lace are excellent for depicting cells and histological structures as well as nerves, muscle fibres and other medical forms such as bacteria and viruses. Lace nets, both regular and irregular, can be used to suggest cellular structures, while intertwining plaits, threads and tallies can suggest nerves and other fibres. As you can see on my website lace can be used not just to depict biological images but also to represent concepts such as loss of memory and genetics. I’ve also used lace to depict the sleep cycle but so far no other physical, chemical or engineering subjects – a life time’s work awaits!