Amari Morris
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences (PhD)
Soft Control
My name is Amari Morris. I am a fourth-year graduate student doing research in the Steinbock Group within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. My research is focused on self-organizing systems, with an emphasis on control and understanding of how complex structures emerge. The ideas that drive my work come from the research lab. We study chemical gardens and the behaviors they exhibit as they interact, grow, and reorganize. These reactions look alive, branching and blooming in ways that mirror biological processes.
I am drawn to the idea that science can also be art, where experimental outcomes are both data and visual experiences. Every image captures a moment in an evolving system, showing different reaction states through changes in color and form. While the experiments are conducted for research purposes, the resulting visuals invite others to consider chemistry as not just a technical discipline but also a creative one. My primary medium is digital photography. The work is created inside a Hele-Shaw cell using reactions between sodium silicate and cobalt chloride paired with polyethylene glycol. I record these reactions with a digital camera, preserving the natural structures and colors formed through the chemistry itself.
Artwork Description:
Chemical reaction (silicate + cobalt + polymer). Rounded forms press against one another, appearing paused mid-growth. The blending of the warm and cool colors creates balance between unpredictability and control. This displays the boundary between stability and change in self-organizing systems.