Biofilm Art Gallery
Introduction to Biofilm Art
Welcome to the Biofilm Art Gallery, where the intriguing world of biofilms is brought to life through artistic expression. This section showcases a collection of artworks inspired by biofilm research, highlighting the beauty and complexity of these microbial communities.
In 2021, we launched our annual Biofilm Create! Art and Photography Competition to support our #BiofilmAware campaign, which raises awareness of biofilm research and its many societal and economic impacts.
This Biofilm Art Gallery contains images from our competition’ ‘Art’ category.
To view entries from the ‘Photography’ category, please visit our Biofilm Image Gallery.
Submit Your Artwork:
Are you an artist inspired by biofilm? Submit your artwork to be featured in our gallery and share your creative vision with a broader audience. Join the community of artists and researchers celebrating the fusion of science and art.
Gabriel Ardern, University of Southampton
The Biofilm Hermit
A hermit wearing a hooded shawl which is covered in Biofilm. The shawl, once woven with fine threads, was now encrusted with a thin layer of biofilm an eerie slimy coating, yet the biofilm that clings to the hermit’s hooded shawl acts as an unusual yet potent form of protection. The hermit has come to trust the biofilm, sensing that it acts not only as a living cloak but as a guardian, allowing him to roam the wilderness in relative safety and isolation.
Gergana Manolova, University of Southampton
Biofilms we create
The artist’s work captures the way in which our fingerprints leave our biofilm (bacteria).
Jasmin Marchant, University of Manchester
Microbe Moon
A comic strip for a game, entitled Microbe Moon, reflecting the prevalence of biofilms – even in space there is no escape! The character names reflect the taxonomic diversity of biofilms, from gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus, and lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus) to gram-negative or plant-colonising species of Pseudomonas, and even fungi like Cryptococcus. Each is linked to a planet, representing the communities biofilms form; while the space environment illustrates the ever-increasing gap we face in the race to contain these colonies that develop rapidly. Within the game, biofilms compete for nutrients and attachment to surfaces. The points system reflects the benefits of free-flowing bacteria (invaders) versus the pathogenic propensity of biofilms (leaky gut, cytokine development, disrupted thin mucus layer) – for us, the cost is disease. The rockets illustrate the economic expense of eradicating biofilms, and their tendency to act as ‘passenger’ bacteria, using others as drivers to spread and engulf over time. Download the PDF here.
Callum Highmore, University of Southampton
Biofilm Management
Acrylic on canvas, 60cm x 60cm. A representation of the antibiotic apocalypse taken to a panicked extreme, with choking colour, a biofilm tidal wave, and a recalibration of scale between microbe and humanity.
Johnathan Biddulph
Microbe Muybridge
A short animation (2 min 08 sec) based on an Eadweard Muybridge photographic sequence of a running man overlaid with agar plates inoculated with the artist’s microbes. With music soundtrack.
Johnathan Biddulph
Microbe Me
A microbial self-portrait Microbe Me, created by overlaying a back lit photographic portrait (by Joel Peck ) with an agar plate which the artist inoculated with microbes swabbed from their own face and head with sterilised artist brushes and water.
Anna Romachney
Symbiotic Culture of Art
Description: A textiles production of SCOBY which had been inspired by the gram stained images taken under a microscope of SCOBY I had grown.
River Darling
Bloom
Two circular canvases painted with acrylics to represent biofilms and the beauty of their interactions.
Carla Bastida Smith, University of Southampton
Welcome to biofilm city…
A battered antibiotic tablet with a phage as its companion stare down the road leading to biofilm city. Biofilms are highly resistant to antibiotics through various mechanisms including efflux pumps (shown as a pipe) and their genetic diversity (hence all the colourful buildings). Biofilms begin as small monolayers but can soon form complex mushroom shaped structures and these inhibit antibiotic penetration. A combination of phages and antibiotics could be a future treatment however we have a long road ahead of us.
Chloe Warren
Microbes all the way down
Using materials with a range of properties, held together yet mobile, the artist wanted to capture the complex, vital, but ethereal nature of the relationships between microbes within biofilms.
Liam Matthew Jones, University of Southampton
Metal eating microbes
Description: A comic, titled ‘Metal eating microbes’, which is about how when microbes form biofilms they can become difficult to remove. In the energy industry this can lead to microbiologically influenced corrosion which causes significant damage and has a large associated cost.
Qi Zhang, Kingston University
Salvinorin A
Description: Digitalization has now penetrated into all aspects of our daily lives, and it continues to integrate into us with new forms and speak directly to us, but beyond that, the rapid growth of digitalization makes me think about its two sides.
Thuy Do, University of Leeds
Oral Biofilm
Painting of oral microbes within a biofilm community (oil on canvas).
Hansani Wahalathanthrige, University of Southampton
Mystery of Nature
When you are searching answers for unknown secrets in the environment! Download the PDF here.
Molly Torsvik
The Inside – The Body
A biofilm is a syntrophic community of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often also to a surface.
James Thompson, University of Southampton
The Hidden Guardian
A short poem about biofilms. Download the PDF here.
Johnathan Biddulph
Still Lives
Microbial Still life, using microbes indigenous to the fruit and environment.
Cass Campbell, University of Southampton
Biofouling
This is a poem written to describe the process and impacts of biofouling by biofilms in marine systems, focusing on macroalgae such as seaweed and other green marine life. Download the PDF here.
Bio Reel
Description: “Bio Reel” is an animation inspired by the process of biolfims forming. The music was created first, with the sequenced bass part reflecting bacteria gradually attaching to a surface. The sequenced bass part builds up with multiple notes – this has both a slightly random but structured feel, being a looping sequence but with lots of syncopation and no particular relationship between each note. This helps the electronic synth have a more natural feel but still represented the structured state bacteria within biofilms live in. The oscillating pitch on the pads reflects the movement of the biofilms, which involves extension and retraction. The visuals were initially created in response to the music, with the slide reel style and glitch aesthetic inspired by a slide reel we recently found in a charity shop, and the white noise generated by the Farfisa Organ emulator used in the music. The slightly creepy aesthetic follows my interest in surrealist and horror music. The visuals are based on bacteria attaching to a surface, losing their flagella and the biofilm growing across surfaces. We also took inspiration from quorum sensing, and created some zig zag lines in the visuals to try and represent this in an abstract way. We hope you enjoy!
Engines of Diversity
Description: Cooperation between diverse players is a winning strategy for community succession, adaption and metamorphosis.
Matthew Hendren
Entropy
Process: Timelapses of medium-format film photographs, taken and developed by the artist, then suspended in agar jelly before being inoculated with mould. As the moulds grow, they alter the dyes in the photographic prints, resulting in chromatic distortion. These clips are accompanied by an original musical composition, and are part of a larger series exploring the importance of decomposing organisms, the fragility of the human condition and the cyclical nature of existence, with death giving birth to new life.
Ellie Jameson, Bangor University
Amphibious friends
Black and white ink cartoon of a happy toad looking up at a heap of happy bacteria balanced on its head.
Breseya Clark, University of Southampton
Phases of Biofilm
Description: Three watercolour paintings based on miscroscope images of biofilms versus the blooms and coating that can be seen on a petri dish. The way that the microscopic films are laid out is inspired by the phases of the moon, indicating how these biofilms build over time and will continue to do so as long as bacteria will form communities.
Mors ex Machina
Description: Short film about the relationship between machines and nature
Fen Sawyer, University of Southampton
B-eye-ofilms!
Description: Multimedia depiction of Staphylococcus aureus: Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacterium that can spread on the surface of the eye. These come in different strains that have different growth / maturity rates, so the effect/symptoms of the S. aureus biofilms are different too!
Mel Lacey, Sheffield Hallam University
Biofilms Unravelled
Description: This is a 3 dimensional crocheted biofilm, the gif shows the states of biofilm formation. The final image with the biofilm growing out of the embroidery hoop shows the role of biofilm in infection. This piece is in greyscale as a nod to electron microscopy images of biofilms at this resolution that a devoid of natural colour.
Brogan Richards, University of Nottingham
Riding the Candida Highway
Description: A C. albicans, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa polymicrobial biofilm under anoxic conditions.
Brogan Richards, University of Nottingham
Stuck to you like glue
Description: S. aureus, C, albicans and P, aeruginosa polymicrobial biofilm grown under anoxic conditions.
Sean Booth, University of Oxford
Time
Description: The interactions between different kinds of bacteria change the composition of biofilms over time. Starting in the top left and spiralling around to the center, we can see the amounts of three different species (each in a different colour) changes as this colony biofilm develops, encompasing the complexity of biofilm ecology. Mixed media: photomicrography and recycled lab plastics.
Kelly Capper-Parkin, Sheffield Hallam University
Life and Death in Thread
Description: Wool stitching onto black fabric mimics both the alive and the dead cells of a biofilm formed by the wound pathogen P. aeruginosa. Based on an image captured by confocal microscopy, the biofilm layers cells upon cells and spreads further and further. A cautionary tale of the perseverance of wound infection causing bacteria.
Fen Sawyer, University of Southampton
Chytrid fungus
Description: This is my multimedia representation of chytridiomycosis using clay + gouache paint.
Emili Awele, University of Southampton
Biofilm Everywhere
Description: Biofilm is a slim yet strong layer of goo sticking to a solid surface, housing a group of bacteria and tiny organisms. This comic illustration shows how an individual starts her day in the shower and is already exposed to biofilm on her shower floor surface. Its everywhere. Biofilms are often associated with harmful effects, particularly in medical and industrial settings. For example, biofilms can form on medical devices, leading to infections, and they can cause corrosion in industrial systems. In the human body, biofilms can be associated with chronic infections and are often more resistant to antibiotics than free-floating bacteria.
Anna Cornfield, Cellexus
Biofilms – an industrial response
Description: My entry is four pieces that work together as a whole to represent the different industries that biofilms affect. I have used graphic design to create a biofilm made up from components of its industry.
Healthcare – KILL OR CURE.
Georges Limbert, University of Southampton
Finite element model of Staphylococcus aureus colonies on a portion of a polyester surgical suture
Description: Image-based finite element model of a portion of polyester surgical suture colonised by biofilms (Staphylococcus aureus). Imaging of the biofilms on the suture was done via laser scanning confocal microscopy. The pink colour represents the normalised magnitude of strain within the suture when subjected to mechanical tension along the longitidinal axis. The bacterial colonies are coloured in green. The objective of this study was to assess in which conditions (tension, bending or torsion) the suture will more likely induce strains sufficient to initiate biofilm detachment.
Aryana Zardkoohi-Burgos, University of East Anglia and Quadram Institute Bioscience
Kaleidoscopic biofilm
Description: This is an abstract depiction of a biofilm growing in a tubular structure
Callum Highmore, University of Southampton
I Am Not Myself
An acrylic painting inoculated with mould and biofilm. Photos were taken regularly as the polymicrobial community bloomed and declined across the face of the figure. In painting and microbial systems, control is understood in terms of occupation of physical space. I wanted to demonstrate that here with tight boundaries between painting and biofilm, and a teeming ecosystem of microbial populations pushing against each other.
Ruby Tait, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh
Biofilms in depth
Description: Embroidered pieces depicting the range of biofilms research. The four embroidery hoops are inspired by the study of the movement of biofilms, the study of individual biofilms, the use in everyday products (through the discovery of biofilms in nato potentially used for stopping ice cream from melting, and the study of biofilms in biofouling.
Norton Finn Robinson, Manchester Metropolitan University
Mother had never wanted this for you
Description: Poetry on SCOBY leather – Observation of the Anthropocene. It reads:
Mother had never wanted this for you
to be a part of thier motherboard
the ones who took the glow from your eyes.
They altered yours carbons
they made your organs unorganic
and then slowly they drew all of your goodness from within.
they made you like this
the ones that took the spark from your brain.
it was part of thier plan…
I just wish you could have realised sooner before the departure of humanity.
Clare Stott, Liverpool John Moores University
Biofilm Towers
Description: View of a Biofilm built in Virtual Reality with planktonic bacteria and biofilm towers.
Sam Church, Professor Emma Roe, Dr Paul Hurley, University of Southampton
Microbial Neighbouring
Description: Set of drawings by Sam Church that narrate conversations in a workshop run by Emma Roe and Paul Hurley on Microbial Neighbouring, with members of the Global Network for Anti-Microbial Resistance and Infection Prevention (Global-NAMRIP). Download the PDF the set of drawings here.
Norton Finn Robinson, Manchester Metropolitan University
Anthroparturire
Description: A photo of a SCOBY Biofilm stretched across a wooden frame, with a ring light and my hand positioned behind it. It symbolises a relationship between the human and non-human, whilst identifying the birth of the Anthropocene. It’s a showing of how we are pushing through the organic into a more uncertain future.
Fen Sawyer, University of Southampton
Carriage at Capacity
Description: Multimedia painting of a railway carriage, imagined overrun by the biofilms and other nature. I illustrated this as my partner volunteers at the railway and disposes of these things practically, whereas I love to think of the strange bacteria and fungi species abstractly. Stachybotrys chartarum‘s mysterious mycotoxins always under debate. The very real antibacterial resistance of biofilms clinging onto public transport surfaces. Aspergillus and Penicillium stretching out palely across heritage furniture. That strange slimey extracellular matrix and the polymers that form it. By hand, the idle wondering is scrubbed away, and human beings return to travel.
Fen Sawyer, University of Southampton
Chytridiomycosis
Description: Clay sculpture of a frog, with detailing on the skin and background aiming to impressionistically depict the fungal species Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which is responsible for the skins’ biofilm and resulting disease Amphibian Chytridiomycosis.
Clare Stott, Liverpool John Moores University
Flying through the Biofilm
Description: Am artistic rendering of a Biofilm built in Virtual Reality, which transports the viewer to a microscopic size, flying through and around biofilm towers and bacteria alike.
Clare Stott, Liverpool John Moores University
Swimming through the Biofilm
Description: An artistic interpretation of an aquatic biofilm built in Virtual Reality with original music.
Rosaria Campilongo, John Innes Centre
Discovery
Description: Mixed media painting of a bacterial plate section.
Rory Claydon, University of Edinburgh
The effect of chaining on biofilm morphology
Description: Bacillus subtilis biofilms (aggregates of microorganisms) can produce beautiful emergent structures, with large looping filaments of bacteria which have chained together. The shape or morphology of the colony is an emergent property of the growth, and is greatly affected by the specific forces acting between cells. Here we show an example of the extreme case of a colony formed from single chain. The figure was made using discrete element simulations.
Amber Hutchinson, David Blake, University of Southampton
Urban Affliction
Description: This fusion of abstract art and urban photography stands for a greater juxtaposition of man and nature. Using mixed media techniques I was able to create organic flows of paint in similar ways to biofilm growths, colonies of colour encroaching on the imposing cityscape of Hong Kong simulate the reality that biofilms are present everywhere, visible or not, and demand attention!
Amber Hutchinson, University of Southampton
World’s of a Petri Dish
Description: An artistic impression of lab-grown petri dish bacterial biofilms. Inspiration for these twin petri dish pieces arose from mixed media experimentation to produce organic forms and structures. The closer you look the more branches, cells and colours you see. No two dishes can be made alike just as lab-grown bacteria, no matter how many controls are in place, will never grow biofilms identically.
Rory Claydon, University of Edinburgh
Evolution of colonies with different chaining probabilities 1
Description: As part of a study to understand the effect of chaining in Bacillus subtilis, we looked at changing the probability that cells link together when they divide. This has a massive impact on the resulting morphology of the colony, which we have been interested in studying. I wrote the simulations for this project and produced the movies.
Rory Claydon, University of Edinburgh
Evolution of colonies with different chaining probabilities 2
Description: As part of a study to understand the effect of chaining in Bacillus subtilis, we looked at changing the probability that cells link together when they divide. This has a massive impact on the resulting morphology of the colony, which we have been interested in studying. I wrote the simulations for this project and produced the movies.
Jo Herbert, University of Portsmouth
Microbial Art Attack
Description: A series of Petri dish art attacks, drawing on the Petri dish to make the microbe into what it most looks like!
Dr Irill Ishak, University of Bristol
The dying face of E. coli
Description: A seemingly dying E. coli cell lying on top of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanospiked surface after incubated for 3 hours. The image was acquired using FEG-SEM at 75-degree tilt angle and magnified at 100000x magnification which revealed “the dying face” of E. coli where the “eyes” and “mouth” are the cell’s surface proteins while the flagella as the “arm” of the cell. Our research suggests that this particular bacterium is dying due to the interaction with the nanospikes. The nanospikes are stretching and rupturing the cell membrane which causes the bacterium unable to proliferate and eventually died, thus limiting the chances of biofilm formation. This image was acquired at Wolfson Bioimaging Facility at the University of Bristol by Dr Irill Ishak during his PhD. The backscattered and secondary electron micrographs were acquired, false-coloured in Adobe Photoshop, and combined to get the final image.
Christopher Campbell, University of Southampton
Biofilms are Alive
Description: Video showing Pseudomonas Aeruginosa bacteria swimming throughout the biofilms they create.
Peng Bao, University of Liverpool
An unknown Bacterium
Description: An imagination of a new bacterium, generated with the help of an AI engine.
Peng Bao, University of Liverpool
Fancy Biofilm
Description: A cartoon of biofilm, generated with the help of an AI engine.
Ian Golding, University of Southampton
Petri Constellation
Description: This is a small sculptural form that imagines the possible contents of a petri dish as imaginary planets in an ancient constellation map.
Clare Louise Halliday, University of Southampton
Biofilm bubbles in Nuku Hiva
Description: Beautiful green bubbles appeared at the beach, like magic. I was mesmerised, this thin green coating on the water just as it reached the beach.
Marie-Claire Catherine, University of South Wales
The microbial community
Description: Watercolor of a biofilm with different microorganisms forming an interdependent microbial community.
Snehal Kadam, University of Hull
May your coffee be strong and your mixed-species infections be sensitive to antibiotics
Description: This is a biofilm-themed design I painted on a ceramic mug. The diamonds at the top represent antibiotics, and the bottom half of the mug is a biofilm made of different bacterial species in a matrix. This design is an artistic representation of my PhD project. I’m currently exploring multi-species bacterial communities in wound infections and their antibiotic resistance profile. I hope that my project contributes to our understanding of such communities and potentially has implications for the future of clinical diagnosis and infection-related healthcare!
Jane Wood, University of Manchester
Is Biofilm the Future of Fashion? 1
Description: Biofilms created by Komagataeibacter xylinus display a mesh of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils when looked at under a scanning electron microscope. The biofilm has been labelled ‘vegetable leather’ by fashion designers and is being explored as an alternative, sustainable material for apparel. This image is a recreation of a micrograph using wool fibre and silk embroidery yarns.
Jane Wood, University of Manchester
Is Biofilm the Future of Fashion? 2
Description: Biofilms created by Komagataeibacter xylinus display a mesh of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils when looked at under a scanning electron microscope. The biofilm has been labelled ‘vegetable leather’ by fashion designers and is being explored as an alternative, sustainable material for apparel.
This image is a recreation of a micrograph using wool fibre and silk embroidery yarns.
Jane Wood, University of Manchester
Is Biofilm the Future of Fashion? 3
Description: Biofilms created by Komagataeibacter xylinus display a mesh of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils when looked at under a scanning electron microscope. The biofilm has been labelled ‘vegetable leather’ by fashion designers and is being explored as an alternative, sustainable material for apparel.
This image is a recreation of a micrograph using wool fibre and silk embroidery yarns.
Jane Wood, University of Manchester
Is Biofilm the Future of Fashion? 4
Description: Biofilms created by Komagataeibacter xylinus display a mesh of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils when looked at under a scanning electron microscope. The biofilm has been labelled ‘vegetable leather’ by fashion designers and is being explored as an alternative, sustainable material for apparel.
This image is a recreation of a micrograph using wool fibre and silk embroidery yarns.
Jane Wood, University of Manchester
Is Biofilm the Future of Fashion? 5
Description: Biofilms created by Komagataeibacter xylinus display a mesh of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils when looked at under a scanning electron microscope. The biofilm has been labelled ‘vegetable leather’ by fashion designers and is being explored as an alternative, sustainable material for apparel.
This image is a recreation of a micrograph using wool fibre and silk embroidery yarns.
Shireen Ali, Osmania University
BIOFILM
Description: Illustration and poetry. Download the PDF here.
Eva Zanditenasa and Professor Serge Ankri, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Predators approaching their prey
Description: The image was acquired using the inverted fluorescent confocal microscopy (X30). The 3D model (built with the imaris software) shows a mature B.subtilis biofilm (in red) and some E.histolytica trophozoites (in green) grazing on biofilm. E.histolytica is responsible for amoebiasis, a gastrointestinal disease present in developing countries. In the human gut, E.histolytica trophozoites feed on bacteria which often form biofilm. Bacterial biofilms are usually too big to be predated by protozoa. This picture is unique as it shows the parasite in action for breaking the biofilm and to capture individual bacteria as its prey. This image was acquired and processed at the Rappaport faculty of medicine at Technion university by Eva Zanditenas (PhD student) and Professor Serge Ankri.