Cyborg-Earth: An Artist's Statement
By Mara G. Haseltine

Whimsy and beauty are the primary qualities I rely on to make my installations appeal to a wide audience. The process by which I create my work is an ode to human progress, often combining ancient practices of fabrication with new digital technologies.  For the past seven years I have been exploring the explosion of information that has occurred since the computerization of bioinformatics.  Many of the structures I have utilized come directly from computerized data gleaned from electron microscopes via x-ray crystallography, which I then digitally sculpt using animation software. (X-ray crystallography is the three dimensional portrayal of minute sub-molecular matter through the refraction of light off of their crystalline structures.) I then fabricate my digital data using stereo-lithography, rapid prototyping, and 5-axis milling. These modern techniques are augmented by traditional sculpting methods such as the ancient lost wax method in bronze, and Japanese garden design.

My most current projects combine minute structures from the nano-world with environmental technology to create a series of living sculptures employing biomimicry. I am working in collaboration with a team of marine biologists to create a living eco-system of functional underwater sculptures. These sculptures will filter waste from the sea water, re-creating the pre-industrial biodiversity of these waters and allowing oyster and muscle reefs to flourish once again in New York's estuaries. With this modular design, we hope to build 100 miles of oyster reef, which would filter the billion and a half tons of waste water dumped into New York's harbors daily.

My work is universal as it portrays the functioning of life's minutia on a grand scale, depicting what lies outside of our immediate perception, and thus cutting through pre-existing notions of gender race and class. Through my art, I hope to bridge the gap between technology and nature to inspire a new way of looking at our relationship with the planet and ourselves.