Jonathan Aldrich

I've spent the last couple of years in a side, quasi-relationship with chemistry and science thanks to my wife.  Conversations have occurred in social gatherings in which I have only partially been able to participate, and sometimes this can be a frustrating experience despite my wife’s unwavering willingness to explain these concepts to me. Science is a fascinating, challenging field of study that can frighten, excite, disgust, or spark curiosity.  The way the public and scientific community handle their relationship is unique and often complicated. Sometimes scientists are advertising directly to the public as if a consumer/business relationship exist, other times they are informing or warning. The information can be manipulated by the media or interested parties, or the illustrations are purely informative to their target scientific audience, and not to the general public.

My artwork tries to pull away from an informative, illustrative approach and instead concentrates on exploring the concepts accessed by the research using a more abstract and speculative method. I like to shift the perspective, to have fun and to encourage the viewer to approach an unfamiliar topic.  I like to engage the viewer in a responsibility of creative thought to elicit a desire to continue to inform themselves on the topics being discussed. The viewer engages with the subject matter without the necessity of years of research, and through this interaction they are led to places not accessible through reading a scientific journal alone.  This is challenging and may not always be successful, but I hope that scientists will look at my work and see how their research inspired each piece. My goal is to promote science as more than just words in a textbook, and instead a passion of truth, responsibility and exploration.