Scientific Fiber Art

From Ann Harwells Quilt gallery
From Ann Harwell's Quilt gallery

In my sometimes rambling and off-again, on-again quest to find places in our culture(s) where science and art intersection, I ran across a lady who quilts the universe. Her name is Ann Harwell, and that’s her work below. It’s a quilted view of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365.

I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a quilted astronomy project. I do recall, back when I was in college (the first time) seeing somebody do a galaxy in needlepoint, and I remember somebody baked a giant chocolate chip cookie in the shape of the Andromeda Galaxy. But, first time for a quilt. I love the way the cosmos shapes art, particularly when space imagery is involved. Ann documents her quilts, too, with background information on the objects that inspired her. I almost expected to see an NSF disclaimer on the page!

Well, Ann’s project got me to searching around for more such artistic renditions of science topics, particularly in fiber art. And, I ran across a very cool place called The Museum of Neuroscientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art.

It bills itself as the world’s largest collection of anatomically correct brain art. There’s a sample below, and I urge you to  check the rest out for yourself.

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