Marina Di Carlo has always been a travel bug. Coincidentally, during a visit to her family home, she happened on material ? things that can give you the bug? that has inspired her recent work.
In her father's cramped upstairs office, piled high with files, she found page after page of scientific research photos - tissues, membranes, cells photographed through laboratory microscopes.
Through textbooks of human and plant histology Di Carlo expanded on her father's neurological imagery to create a large series of oils on canvas and acrylic on paper, aptly titled Vita Occultus: A meditation on microscopic life. She transforms these scientific images by imbuing them with motion, tension and character.
"They show life dancing," she says on her website.
Opening reception on Friday, April 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. Exhibit runs April 8-30 at Gallery 501, Howard W. Blake High School for the Arts, 1701 N. Boulevard, Tampa. 813-272-3422, Ext. 719. marinadicarlo.com.
