This is a second edition, colour-changing (!) block printed portrait of Louis Pasteur. Though his work was extensive in a variety of fields, I chose to depict him as I see him; a man who saw bacteria in his environment and developed a means of protecting people from this ambient menace. The image is based on a photograph of Pasteur and the background, of course depicts various morphologies of bacteria. I don't know anything in particular really, about bacteria, but morphologies I can understand. Plus, I like his face. You can see his concern in his eyes. And he sticks his glasses in a button-hole in his coat- a interesting touch. Suggests he is thinking about other things. The lino block print is a 2nd edition of nine (some variability in mixed colours) in dark blue and turquoise thermochromic ink on 9 inch by 12 inch (23 cm by 31 cm) Japanese kozo paper.
Thermochromic ink changes colour with temperature. If you heat the print above about 30°C ( 86 F) the turquoise bacteria go colourless and disappear. It's like a metaphor for pasteurization. Some of the photos should pairs of prints with various amounts of heat applied. By using, for instance, a hair dryer, it's possible to make all the bacteria disappear. It's a metaphor for pasteurization!
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