delicate glass sculptures of deadly viruses by luke jerram

HIV

The blown glass sculptures of UK-based artist luke jerram visualize some of biology’s most fatal facets, depicting deadly diseases and varying strains of viruses in complex, crystal-clear detail. the series of works scale up the image of parasites and bacteria by up to 1,000,000 times the size of the actual pathogen, and are recreated as delicate, transparent volumes. 

HIV, swine flu, salmonella, e.coli, and smallpox are just a few of the malignancies that jerram crafts into three-dimensional structures, reflecting them in large proportions so their intricacies are exposed. ‘glass microbiology‘ intends to contemplate the global impact of each disease, and has been created as alternative representation to the artificially colored imagery traditional to their depiction. 

By extracting the familiar chroma typically found in medical publications, and creating jewel-like objects based on their genetic makeup, a juxtaposition arises between the artworks’ elegance and the fate they represent.

ev71 – hand foot and mouth disease

e. coli

human papilloma virus

human papilloma virus (detail)

swine flu (spherical)

avian flu (h5n1)

smallpox

t4 bacteriophage

ebola

salmonella

salmonella

swine flu, spherical (detail)

human papilloma virus

HIV

malaria

giardia

ev71, hand foot and mouth disease

e.coli

swine flu, spherical

adenovirus