Studio Blue’s first artwork on display is “Micro-lume” by Chelsea Fredrikson.  Chelsea received her B.F.A. from the University of Rhode Island in 2012.  Her advisor was Barbra Pagh.

“Micro-lume” was a collaboration with Dr. John Kirkpatrick, Postdoctoral Fellow, from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.  Images from Dr. Kirkpatrick’s research inspired this installation.  Lit from behind, the panels are meant to reflect what is seen through the light from a microscope.  Ink and paint thinner combine to make the images on the plexiglass panels.

The research project was focused on microorganisms that live about a hundred meters under the surface of the Black Sea, sandwiched between the oxygenated water above, and the anoxic, sulfidic water (think rotten eggs!) below. Living completely in the dark, the organisms are too small to see with the naked eye.  They thrive on the energy created by the combination of the two water layers – as well as the decay of sinking matter. This piece is inspired by microscopic images of organisms filtered from the seawater and stained with a dye that causes their DNA to fluoresce blue under UV light. Chelsea talks about this work in a URI press release.