David Nyzio (born 1958) is an American artist whose work bridges the gap between art and science. He was born in Massachusetts, received a BFA from

Southeastern Massachusetts University The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts Un ...

(North Dartmouth, Massachusetts) in 1982 and received an MFA from

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

(Brooklyn, New York) in 1986. The artist lives and works in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Nyzio is best known for his use of plants, especially the blue-green algae

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

Oscillatoria ''Oscillatoria'' is a genus of filamentous cyanobacterium which is often found in freshwater environments, such as hot springs, and appears blue-green. Its name refers to the oscillating motion of its filaments as they slide against each other ...

''. ''Adventures in Articulation I'', in the collection of the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

, is a self-portrait rendered in algae. To create this work, the artist suspended a glass negative over a tank of water containing algae and a sheet of paper. An overhead light caused the algae to grow on the paper only where the light could pass through the negative.Honolulu Museum of Art, wall label, ''Adventures in Articulation I'' by David Nyzio, accession TCM.1996.5

References

1958 births Living people 20th-century American sculptors Modern sculptors 21st-century American sculptors {{US-sculptor-stub