John Sollinger, Professor of Biology

John Sollinger, a professor of biology, translates his interest in biological patterns into what he calls mosainting, creating mosaic art from images he comes across in nature. He finds that “the scientist in [him] strives for an Impressionistic view of native scenes that balances photorealism and abstraction,” and creating his art in this unique way “parallels [his] view of the organization of the physical world, from the composition and structure of cellular membranes to fire behavior and community interactions, for ‘mosaics’ describes their associations.”

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Radiance, one of his mosainting pieces depicting the medical herb Arnica which he stumbled upon while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail near Hobart Peak, took Best in Show in Mosaic Art International 2010. This inspired him “to see how it would rate in the greater art world, where painting reigns supreme and mosaics are associated with temple walls and Roman ruins,” believing that “a more meaningful assessment of its ‘artfulness’ was a competition open to anyone in any medium.” Now, Radiance has not only appeared in several exhibitions but recently took third place out of 1165 entries in The Artist’s Magazine’s 28th Annual Art Competition for “Still Life/Floral.” However, Sollinger jokes that it took first place in floral since first and second place were still life pieces. This winning piece is featured in the December 2011 issue of The Artist’s Magazine.

To see more of Professor Sollinger’s work: http://roguemosaics.com/home.html

Jennifer Marcellus
CAS Student Intern