Pollen goes bowling

An unexpected delight at the 516 Arts "Cross Pollination" exhibit was an arrangement of  Jo Golesworthy's pollen grain sculptures. The size of a bowling ball more or less, each of the pollen sculpture forms was a fascinating insight into nature's geometry, economy, and beauty at the most minute levels.

When my young sons had bad allergy and asthma problems we spent a lot of time in allergists' examining rooms staring at the medical charts hanging on the walls. Those illustrations showed magnified pollen, tree-branch lungs, and constricted airways. Waiting for the breathing treatment to kick in, watching a child's face slowly get back to normal color, listening to each breath and cough, felt like being rolled over by another heavy bowling ball of parenting stress. During happier check-ups the pollen images were intriguing Bucky-balls, Nerf balls, or death stars.

View pollen grains here or here.


© 2013-2017 Nancy L. Ruder