The fibres connect the inside and the outside of the cell, forming pathways that carry messages through the cell’s inner landscape. The oval area is a specialised part of the cell surface that acts as a hot spot for message processing.
This oval area is 1.6 micrometres long (1 micrometre is one thousandth of a millimetre).
Image: Kristina Jahn
The chloroplasts are the dome-shaped structures clinging to the inner edge of the cell. The dark squarish shapes are the stacked-up membranes that capture light from the sun and turn it into sugars that fuel plant growth and ultimately all life on earth. These sugars are stored as starch granules – the white bean-like shapes inside the chloroplasts.
The plant cell is around 17 micrometres long (1 micrometre is one thousandth of a millimetre).
Image: Maret Vesk
This painting is about the way our atoms and cells resonate with our surrounding environment. The atoms and cells of someone who is Indigenous may resonate quite differently to someone who is not. The focus of my work is love and to be aware of humanities footprint on this green and beautiful world. 100 years from now I don’t want my children’s children to wander in a world made of concrete, steel and dirt depleted of wildlife and farmable land. I want them to wander free in a vibrant wilderness. Mankind is doing life wrong, we need to take a few pages from the book of our Indigenous ancestors and live with this strange and beautiful world instead of against it.
Artist: Julian Oates
If you like this painting, see more of Julian’s work at the Art Mob.
