in the lab of Dr Paul Lickiss

order, repetition, patience, planning
increments, variables, trial and error

hardware, glassware, tubing, filtering
draining, distilling, diluting, decanting

mixing, dyeing, testing
accidentally painting

dissolving, absorbing, drying, heating

ordering, disordering, repeating, reordering

measuring, monitoring, methodical manoeuvring

arranging, aligning, assessing, evaluating

Thanks so much to Paul for his generosity of time and spirit.
Our conversations continue…

halo

ring of gold, disc of light, symbol of soul, sign of sanctity, circle of heaven, shorthand of spirit, convention of representation, staple of art history, fascination of mine

keep on runnin

I’ve never felt the need or desire to use a ‘running stitch’ before.
So plain, so rigid, so unintuitive – so I thought.

The systematic, repetitive, focussed processes and behaviours I’ve been encountering in the labs and services demands a much more restrained approach – one with limited variables and margins for error. Also, incidentally, with little room for manoeuvre, but that’s another story.

Properly exiting the comfort zone now. The only issue is the faintly reminiscent whiff of retro New Age Christian banners… and we don’t want that. But it’s still fairly early days – give me a chance!

tangible /// ineffable

zero representation.
simply geometry, colour, patterns, motifs.

direction, intention, ritual, repetition, routine, discipline, order.

visual and tactile support, accessory, necessity.
the tangible subordinate to the ineffable.

experimenting

try, try again, repeat

  

  

sequence, series, repetition, rigour, discipline, persistence, perseverance.
contain, encapsulate, compartmentalise.
samples, variables, permutations.

fragments

 

material matters, devotional matters

Soumaya Mauthoor, a young muslim materials scientist completing her PhD, has agreed to show me around the materials department and introduce me to her friends at midday congregational prayer. The sisters of Imperial’s Islamic Society gather in a large empty meeting room and catch up over a quick lunch before preparing for the prayers and sermon. They have a hi-fi system connected to the rooms in which the men gather – at once connected and remote – hearing though not heard. I sit to the side, trying not to get in the way.

These women are warm, welcoming, broad-smiling, respectful, interested. Soumaya introduces me to everyone, including Zobia Gundkalli, a medic, who promises to show me around her department soon. I am struck by – and slightly envious of – this kind of sisterhood. It clearly runs deep – doesn’t dwell on distractions at the surface. It doesn’t matter if I get on with you, if we have the same interests. We sit side by side, we perform the same ritual actions, sitting, standing, bowing, standing again, sitting once more.

I feel closed off by comparison, and now slightly ashamed. Afterwards, as we walk and talk, Soumaya switches easily between my questions about visual representation in mosques and the specialised x-rays and microscopes in the materials labs. As each day passes on the Imperial campus, I feel more and more like a tourist in the land of science, and more painfully aware of the paucity of my intellect. More humble pie for dinner tonight, methinks. Humbled but inspired, a good place to be.

getting things down on paper

more microscopic marvels

Researcher Michael Povelones thought I should know about this parasite - Trypanosoma Brucei – implicated in African Sleeping Sickness.

Strangely graceful and seahorse-like, it immediately reminded me of the ‘beautiful, balletic courtship of weedy sea dragons’ that drifted in and out of the BBC’s recent Life series, and particularly of their delicate, vulnerable and translucent young. Utter awe.