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Shaun Morrow

Schematic

03.06.09~13.06.09

Upon initial viewing, Schematic appears to be a series of works with only subtle pattern nuances that distinguish one painting from the next.

This phenomenon is what Morrow uses to illuminate the minimal differences in the genetic makeup of vastly different animal species.

Following his 2006 show Renovation, Morrow’s interest in mathematical systems and theoretical human engineering using nano technology, lead him to investigate natural Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structures. He found that a digital combination of only four molecules holds all the information needed to create any life form. Morrow obtained the DNA sequencing of nine animal species, and developed a schema to make reference to the genetic material, in an artistic rather than strictly scientific representation.

The molecules, or nucleotides, which are scientifically coded as guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), have been mapped as orange, blue, red, and yellow. These colours have been assigned to make reference to the modernist painter Piet Mondrian’s palette.

They are attached to a white cross-like structure, which becomes iconic as it is repeated in each piece, but when hung together, it becomes a double helix. This is then set against a black background which has ghost-like echoes of the DNA schema, implying temporal multiplicity. Just as molecular biologists have spent the past half century attempting to decipher the genetic code of DNA, the viewer’s gaze tends to enter into a maze like journey, endeavoring to clarify distinctions and similarities between the individual works.

The result is an impressive manifestation of our human minute building blocks displayed like billboard signs along side those of the chimpanzee, mega bat, elephant, chicken, hedgehog, zebra fish, mouse and fruit fly.

Floria Tosca