Leanne Glass is a printmaker and photographer exploring the relationships between the micro and macro worlds. Her research explores how geometry can help understand the internal workings of a virus and how it can be used in creating anti-viral therapies.

‘(un)Folded: Exploring a virus from the outside in’.

‘(un)Folded’ explores how geometry can help us understand the internal workings of a virus. Using origami, she constructs geometric shapes found within a virus structure and then unfolds them, to create prints based on the crease patterns of the paper. By doing so an audience can see both the internal and external views of a virus simultaneously. It also shows how the virus creates a ‘blueprint’ of itself for replication and some of the mathematical concepts used in anti-viral research such as ‘Hamilton paths'.

The virus is initially in its full form (image 1) infectious when handled, so please do not touch. It is then broken down into sections and unfolded to see the internal patterns of the virus (images 2 and 3). Here is it no longer infectious. The patterns (images 4 and 5) are the ‘blueprints’ of the virus, showing not only how it can reconstruct itself in a host’s cell, but also the paths the genetic materials must take to enter a cell. Finally, you are invited to touch the non-infectious virus via an etching plate and embossed print (image 6).