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Prairie FALL 2022
Images help clear the confusion
Meaningful Beauty highlighted plant fusion, which is where two separate
structures become one. Scientists want to understand what forms it can take,
why and when it happens, and which genes are involved. Biology major Leann
Janzekovich '24, who plans to be a medical illustrator, seemed the perfect student
to create realistic and anatomically correct images of fusion to teach viewers the
wide-ranging impact of plant-evolution research. "The scientific world can be
daunting for the general public to delve into," she says. "Which is why art is so
important for communicating in a neat, approachable, and exciting way to get
people interested in science."
To see video of the
Meaningful Beauty exhibit in
the TCNJ Art Gallery before it traveled
to Harvard University, go to
tcnj.edu/honeysuckles.
Gracilipes
Japonica
Ciliosa
Ferdinandi
Gynochlamydea
Color, size, petal arrangement, and flower orientation create the striking visuals of the honeysuckle flowers that attract pollinators. Haley
Wright '23 gives an artistic twist on traditional herbarium specimens — plants pressed between paper, labeled, and preserved — with these
acrylic representations she made in TCNJ's Makerspace.
