Archival Art Print of "Simbiota" by Aurora Levins Morales

About The Work Simbiota illustrates the symbiotic evolutionary journey humans and bacteria have taken together, since before we were homo sapiens. At each fork of the evolutionary tree, as we have diverged from our primate relatives, the bacteria in our bodies has likewise changed its evolutionary path with us. So essential are bacteria to the functioning of our bodies that some microbiologists say it’s an illusion to consider ourselves a single species. Rather, we are homo sapiens bacterii. The round shapes in this piece range from cells to pomegranates, metaphorically representing our bacterial companions. The woman is taken from a medieval Persian anatomical illustration, and the “antlers” on her head are Darwin’s sketch of the evolutionary tree. The background is an image of ancient bacteria. Simbiota is part of my broader exploration of interspecies relationships between humans and microbes. About The Ferment Series My multi-genre project, Ferment, explores the impact of “chemicals of control” starting with my own pesticide-induced epilepsy and expanding into a global story of military and agricultural toxicity. My work, in words or in visual art, never documents the terrible without offering some medicine for it. In this case, it’s an immersion into microbiology and the beneficial bacteria that can bioremediate everything from the pesticide dieldrin, to plastic waste, to the residues of war.