Category: Fertility Art

This is the final work of the Future Element series. It was not finished in time for the exhibition, so it was never seen with the other four. It is an independent looking oocyte, in quite a mature state.

Of this series, this is the painting that gives the most prominence to the rest of the ovarian tissue. It has also a more domineering nucleus, which enhances the feeling of potential life. The maturing ovum is in a corner, and is the centre of attention at the same time.

Within the series, this oocyte looks like it has been frozen and preserved. Caught in a preparatory phase, now quite ready to get out, but no chance of going back. See ‘the beginning of a self’ legend.

The spring of 2012 was rich in ova in my workshop. I produced a series of large oocytes, some of which were exhibited in light boxes. See below the legend of the work titled ‘The beginning of a self’ for an explanation of the elastic nature of this series.

This is a theme that I have re-visited repeatedly, always inside the ovarian tissue. The colours, and the shapes and the sizes vary considerably, and I see those changes as a way to express the very different destinies of the ova, the enormous potential for variation trapped in very similar cells. The many alternative futures are reflected in each of them: will it be fertilized? Will it be implanted or be expelled? Will a good sperm get to it in time? Will it be a girl? Will it become twins? Will it suffer teratogenesis because of a rare side effect of a wandering drug? will it become a world class athlete?

This is one of a series of ova made in a spell of reproductive mitochondrial interest. The ovum about to ovulate has differentiated from the rest of the surrounding tissue and is getting ready to leave the ovary. Its mitochondria are organized mainly around the nucleus. The cell is full of potential and force. A big journey of life may be about to start.

This is the mother of all ova. My very first about-to-be released (in ovulation) ovum. This is a theme that I have re-visited repeatedly, always inside the ovarian tissue. The colours, and the shapes and the sizes vary considerably, and I see those changes as a way to express the very different destinies of the ova, the enormous potential for variation trapped in very similar cells. The many alternative futures are reflected in each of them: will it be fertilized? Will it be implanted or be expelled? Will a good sperm get to it in time? Will it be a girl? Will it become twins? Will it suffer teratogenesis because of a rare side effect of a wandering drug? And what will the sperm do to it?