Meet The Scientist Growing Celebrity Portraits Out Of Bacteria

What do you get when you cross an experimental scientist with Einstein, bacteria, and radiation? No, this isn't one of your dad's "No soap, radio" non-sequiturs— it's the incredibly successful artwork of microbiologist-artist Zachary Copfer.

Above? Almost-Warholian "bacteriographic" petri dish portraits of Einstein's iconic tongue image. Below? A few more familiar famous faces get Copfer's trademark microbe treatment:

From Zachary Copfer:

While in grad school, I began to use art as a vehicle to rediscover the mysteries of science that once fascinated me so. Now, I create visual art that is about deeply exploring the beauty and poetry that reside in scientific theories. My methods are often a fusion of contemporary artistic and modern scientific practices. I have called upon my background in microbiology to employ various bacteria as my artistic medium of choice. I am fascinated by the ability to make visible the living blanket of microorganisms that exist just beyond the human range of perception and that without our knowledge affect us so intimately.

Below, a video that displays the growth process of Copfer's bacteriographic portrait of English comedian Stephen Fry, and, below it, more images of his microbial bio-artworks:

To learn more, check out more of Zachary Copfer's bio-artworks on his website, Science to the Power of Art. h/t Core77 and Beautiful Decay

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