Anatomical Architecture
Laura Wagner
Artist's Statement - 2007

These drawings of isolated structures were inspired by the overlap of architectural forms and organic figures. All parts of an organism, from the smallest protein to the longest bone, shape the surrounding spaces as they grow. Scientists have worked to develop ways of visualizing these complex spatial relationships. Such models are designed to explain the operation of an organic element as much as describe its appearance, like the DNA double helix. However, the shapes are strikingly beautiful in their own right.

While examining images of models as the trajectorial system in a femur, I was struck by how they resembled architectural structures. The cavities described by the femur model were the arches of a cathedral; the threads of a muscle filament became the pillars of an odd gazebo. Exploding these small diagrams into large drawings also brought their scale closer to that of real architecture. These structures support us, inside and out.