The Dazzling Diatoms

Noah Strong and Violet Felusch
New Norfolk High School

In collaboration with Lucinda Duxbury
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, UTAS

Artist’s Statement

Our scientist Lucinda researches ancient DNA in sediment samples. By doing this she is finding out about past climate events and may be able to predict future changes.

When we visited her lab, we had to transport a sediment sample to the lab at the Sandy Bay University campus. The sediment was stored in a long plastic tube and held millions of strands of DNA. We discovered that tiny amounts of mud provide huge amounts of DNA.

Our favourite part of the lab visit was learning about the diatoms that Lucinda finds in her samples. Diatoms are microscopic algae. We made this piece The Dazzling Diatoms to bring some awareness to these wonderful little creatures responsible for up to 50% of the oxygen in the air we breathe.

We were inspired to make this kaleidoscope after learning about the diatoms and transporting the sediment sample tube to the lab. Our painting is inspired by different types of diatoms and the shape of the kaleidoscope is based off the sediment tube.

When you look into our kaleidoscope it simulates the wonder of being able to discover such tiny ancient creatures inside of mud. We made it in a way that hopefully encapsulates the curiosity that we felt when we first saw them.