Immaculate Organicism
They are small and mighty!
Ancestral entities.
Terrestrial traders in food.
Unifying all that is living.
Absorbing all that passes.
Educating our immune systems,
so we may run.
We owe them everything!
They feed us with their waste.
They protect our bodies as little warriors.
They make oxygen,
so we may breathe and sing.
On our tongues, they taste.
On our bodies, they shield.
In our cells, they energize.
They unify all living things,
humans, fish, plants, and fungi.
They seed the clouds bringing rain,
river, and sea.
So roots, leaves, and stalks can sprout.
They make our bread, cheese, and wine
so we may eat and laugh.
They offer the miracle of digestion,
so we may dance and see.
They are the unsung heroes of times past
that have symbiotically joined with us.
We are them, and they are us.
The microbes.
By Ken Rinaldo
These works are collages created with permanent markers, colored pencils, and markers. Most of the magazine was from an Art Institute of Chicago alumni publication sent to our home of teaching and graduates of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Images that occurred on each page were suggested extensions of the picture. The iconography is biomorphic and suggestive of microbial life.
Forms appear to communicate with others through chemicals and pass information from one to the other.
Many are forming feet, wings, or branching extensions characteristic of some bacteria or fungi. They appear to suggest relations between different dimensions and perspectives, creating sense
images that appear to be windows into worlds that come back to the surface of the page with the drawings. Each work is completed on 8 1/2 by 11 acid-free drawing paper.
Some suggest human or animal forms, while others have surfaces and colors which are architectonic in their approach.
I enjoyed playing with color in these works and composing a poem about microbes, fungi, bacteria, and archaea covering all and a part of our survival.
Exhibitions
GALERIA DEL GRABADO Matanzas, Cuba, 2023
Cartas de Cuba A multi-venue exhibition invites work from the Immaculate Organicism series drawings. Invited and curated by Michael Reese.
ANTONIO PRATES GALLERY Lisbon Portugal, June 2022
A one-person exhibition of new works inspired by the intertwining of human and machine interactions. Invited by Antonio Prates in collaboration with Centro Portuguese de Serigraphia and Joao Prates.
LOANN CRANE GALLERY GCAC Columbus, Ohio, Aug – Sept 2022
Cartas de Cuba A multi-venue exhibition invites one work from the Immaculate Organicism series drawings. Mantanzas ~ ~Cienfuegos ~ Camaguey, Cuba, Columbus, Ohio ~ New York City, New York. Curated by Michael Reese.
Collections
The Hilton Hotel, as part of the Cartas de Cuba Exhibition curated by Michael Reese
Joao Prates, Lisbon Portugal
Antonio Prates, Lisbon Portugal
Joana Pitta, Lisbon Portugal
Vanda Oliveira, Lisbon Portugal
Luis Azevedo, Lisbon Portugal
Rui CPS, Lisbon Portugal