Just Below the Surface

“Just Below the Surface” follows in line with artist Xavier Cortada‘s other diatom-inspired work, the digital prints from this series offering a conceptual depiction of the natural life from hundreds of years prior.

The imagery of the diatom allows for this conceptual resonance, as diatoms harness the power of the sun to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, essentially providing scientists with a link to the past. These single-celled aquatic organisms are studied to research what was as they address environmental concerns in the century to come.

The diatoms represented in Cortada’s “Just Below the Surface” prints were inspired by microscopic photographs of diatoms preserved in sedimentary core samples local to South Florida.