Window printing project at the Rubenstein Arts Center, Duke University.
02/12-2024, Durham NC, USA
Source material: scientific illustrations, specimen from the Duke Herbarium and architectural elements from the gothic style Chapel
Technique: screen printing on windows with acrylic ink.
A vertical screen printing installation on the windows of the Murthy Agora at the Rubenstein Arts Center. The installation is centered on scientific illustrations and inspired by the extensive Sarah P. Duke Gardens. It features Professor of Biochemistry Jane Richardson’s renowned ribbon drawing of superoxide dismutase (2SOD) and a depiction of Lygodium Palmatum, a climbing fern, by Hugo L. Blomquist, Duke University’s first Professor of Botany. These illustrations, fragmented and undergoing multiple free transformations are placed within a fictional archaeological backdrop. Therein, the image of an empty pedestal, once home to a statue of Robert E. Lee at the Duke Chapel entrance portal, plays a central role. The pedestal is repeatedly printed in varying heights and configurations evoking the remains of column rows, reminiscent of the ancient Roman Agora in Athens, Greece.

This project was sponsored as part of Duke University’s Centennial Celebration by Duke Arts, the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts at Duke University.