Kate O'Keeffe
Moulding the Future: Investigating the sustainable use of bacteria in contemporary material culture.
As a researcher, artist, and educator, I have become consumed by an interest in natural processes. These processes, from growth to decay and from death to new life are constantly in motion and inherently transformative. My current work explores the potential of bacteria within material culture today. Investigations conducted in collaboration with a microbiologist have centred on the employment of bacteria as a dye pigment and as a material in its own right. My artistic approach has always tended to be process driven and, in this case, I find that it is the microbes that are leading the way. Close investigations of these natural phenomena reveal manifestations of unexpected beauty and these form a potentially attractive gateway for the uninitiated public. Using an aesthetically-driven scientific approach, my work aims to activate a deeper and more enriching engagement with the foundational processes underpinning life on this planet.
Coláiste Chiaráin, Leixlip, Co. Kildare. Scoil Mhuire Community School, Clane, Co. Kildare. The Coach House, Stewarts Care, Palmerstown. Co. Dublin.
1- Left: Two kombucha sleeves & One silk sleeve bacterial dyed. Right: Kombucha experiments.
2-Close up of kombucha experiments.
3- Left: Process File and notebooks. Right: dead kombucha in jars.
4- Beetroot fed kombucha made into surgical mask.
5- Kombucha sleeve machine sewn.
6- Petri dish containing fungi and bacteria.
7- Collaboration with Dr. Kevin Kavanagh, Professor of microbiology, Maynooth University.
8- Bacterial dyes in lab.
9- Bacterial dye and dyed silks.
10- Bacterial dyed silks, dyed with a range of bacteria.