While the worlds of research science and fine art don’t typically collide, Doug Bosley isn’t a typical artist.
Bosley received an MFA from the University of Wisconsin in 2012, and, from 2013-15, served as honorary fellow and artist-in-residence in the Forest Lab at UW’s Department of Bacteriology. His new show at the James Watrous Gallery in the Overture Center, Unexplored Map, makes masterful use of the antiquated Mezzotint style of printmaking and reflects the artist’s experience in the lab by conjuring an alternate world filled with Auxons — a population of small, self-replicating insectile robots that, initially programmed by humans, has autonomously spread into separate ecological niches.
The show, which is on display alongside artist and MFA grad Scott Espeseth’s Signal Bleed and runs through August 27, acts as a cross-sectional safari through an alien realm, in landscapes decimated by climate change. Bosley’s pieces range from large-scale colonies to single profile sketches. “LD:4334.1409” depicts “Collectors,” a sub-type of Auxon evolved to transport materials between sites. Each piece is intricately detailed and dramatically lit, dominated by black-and-white or indigo tones.