DRAWING RESEMBLANCE: MINERAL NICKNAMES AND ISOMORPHOLOGY

摘要

This article is about how the practice of drawing resemblances between animal, mineral, and vegetable species has been developed through my own artistic research. It starts from the historical example of mineral nicknames (names attributed to specimens depending on their resemblance to species from other kingdoms-animal and vegetable). I then explain the development of "drawing as a way of knowing" in my own artistic practice through the Isomorphology study. "Isomorphology" is the observational study of the shared forms and symmetries of animal, mineral, and vegetable species. It is a drawing practice that includes a set of experimental approaches such as interdisciplinary collaboration with scientists and museum collection study. This mixed method approach is conducted within the context of scientific institutions like the natural history museum, London. This research explores how the shared morphological characteristics (form and symmetry) of animal, mineral, and vegetable species can be identified and represented through the process and object of drawing towards an extra-scientific model of classification.