Real and Imaginary Mutants is a series of drawings that combines ink with colored protein pigments, derived from genetically engineered archaebacteria developed in collaboration with Leiden University researchers. Rendered in the style of 19th-century scientific illustrations, these works reference Western cultural notions of the “monstrous” mutant and biotechnological transformations. By blending fictional representations with actual “mutant” elements (the protein pigment), the series contrasts popular, often exaggerated, images of mutants as chimeric hybrids with the subtle, microscopic realities of contemporary genetic engineering, which may involve minute changes at the molecular level.

Real and Imaginary Mutants were exhibited as part of This Mess We’re In as part of the Unhallowed Arts Program in Perth in 2018 and at Spiro Grace Art Gallery (SGAR) in 2014.