After more than a quarter of century of viewing the micro and nano worlds I am still fascinated by these highly organized and extremely beautiful structures. All this time I was thinking it’s a shame we can’t see them in colors. Not anymore. My twenty year old idea of capturing and adding color to these wonders became reality once digital technology improved.

I did not want to stop at the coloring and manipulating stages of this artistic process. I wanted these wonders to be accessible to the general public. Fortunately, the advances in digital printing allowed me to print these images with archival inks on large  canvases. In this way scientific images became artworks and could be showcased for  large audiences .

My art reflects the technological movement of the 21st century. NanoArt is aimed at public awareness about the new Nanotechnology and how it will impact our lives. 

Silkworm Larva

Nanotechnology deals with the synthesis, manipulation and characterization of matter at the sub-100 nanometers level. It is still an emerging area although commercial products are already on the market. Nanotechnology is a very powerful combination of technologies that could be extremely beneficial or extremely dangerous.The general public should be aware of this new technology and not limited to government and the military. Attractive images awaken the curiosity of the audience, and I've found myself engaged in discussion about nanotechnology and helping people with being in a better position to make informed decisions.    

 Rock Flowers                                                 Tribute to Kubrick Space Odyssey 2001

Photography and digital art are relatively new art disciplines in the history of image making. To the extent that  NanoArt is a distinct discipline, it could help define the practice and vision of 21st century art. Today, ordinary people can have access to sophisticated research tools like scanning electron microscopes available at independent or university labs. Art and technology continue to enjoy a new Renaissance.

NanoArt is not photography. The depth and three dimensions achieved in NanoArt sets this process of electron imaging apart from photography where images are created by photons (particles of light) rather than by electrons (electrically charged particles). The electrons penetrate deeper in the structure creating images with more depth, more natural 3D-look than the photographic images.

NanoArt is a new art discipline related to micro/nanosculptures created by artists/scientists through chemical/physical processes and/or natural micro/nanostructures that are visualized with powerful research tools like Scanning Electron Microscope and Atomic Force Microscope. I bring the small world in front of my audience through high resolution electron microscope scans of natural micro or nanostructures and sculptures I create at micro or nano scale by physical or/and chemical processing. I take further steps mixing the realistic images of these structures with abstract colors, digitally painting and manipulating the monochromatic electron scans, and finally printing them with long-lasting inks on canvas or fine art paper.

My artistic process starts in a laboratory where I can create different structures through the means of physics and chemistry. I called these structures Nanosculptures. Basically I make sculptures at molecular level. For my artworks, I also use natural or other man-made structures of different materials commercially available.

The next steps are structure visualization and image capture. To accomplish these steps, I am using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).  Scanning electron microscopy is a method for high-resolution imaging of surfaces. The SEM uses electrons for imaging, much as a Light Optical Microscope (LOM) uses visible light. Conventional light microscopes, like photographic cameras, use a series of glass lenses to bend light waves and create a magnified image. The SEM creates the magnified images by using electrons instead of light waves. The images created without light waves are rendered black and white. The advantages of a SEM over a LOM include greater magnification (up to 300,000 X) and a much greater depth of field. Imaging is typically obtained using secondary electrons (SE) for the best resolution of fine surface topographical features. The image resolution for an ideal sample is in the nanometers range.   

Here is how the SEM works (Fig.1). First, the sample should be prepared to stand the high vacuum inside the chamber. Also, because the SEM works with electrons, the sample has to be coated with a thin film of usually Gold, sometimes Carbon, to conduct electricity. Once the sample has been prepared properly is placed on a stage inside the vacuum chamber. After the air is pumped out of the column, an electron gun emits a beam of high energy electrons. This beam travels downward through a series of magnetic lenses designed to focus the electrons to a very fine spot. At the bottom end of the column, a set of scanning coils moves the focused beam back and forth across the specimen, row by row. As the electron beam hits the sample, secondary electrons are knocked loose from its surface. A detector counts these electrons and sends the signals to an amplifier. The final image is built up from the number of secondary electrons emitted from each spot on the sample and is displayed on a screen.
The newer SEMs are PC controlled and therefore the image is captured directly on a computer without the need to print the SEM image and then scan it in a computer.

To paint the NanoArt monochromatic electron scans I developed a technique in Adobe Photoshop called digital faux. Faux painting is a very old technique used by decorative painters to recreate the look and feel of many types of natural materials. The beginning of this decorative art is dated a few thousand years ago, and started with the Egyptians continuing with the Mycenaean and other Greek cultures, ancient Rome, Italian Renaissance, and the French school. Faux finishes use glazes instead of paint. The difference between these two is paint is opaque and glaze is translucent. By layering glazes one can produce more 3-dimensional effects then with paint. Like traditional faux, digital faux is done by overlaying translucent layers of color to create the perception of depth, volume, and form. These are what I called digital glazes, available in Photoshop by adjusting the opacity of different colors.  

                                                                                                 Surfing Boards