Microsculpture

This exhibit is now closed. See our current exhibitions and upcoming special exhibits here.

About Microsculpture

Microsculpture presents a series of beautiful, high magnification portraits that capture the microscopic form of insects in striking large-format and high-resolution detail. The exhibition was created by photographer Levon Biss and showcases the insect collection of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. 

The intricate shapes, colors, and structures of the tiny subjects are dizzying in their variety, but without the power of an optical microscope or camera lens, their astonishing complexity and beauty remains mostly hidden to the human eye. But now, with artistic vision and technical expertise, Biss has delivered a new perspective on insects, enabling audiences of Microsculpture to study and appreciate their hidden details in a unique and engaging way. 

Each image on display in Microsculpture took about four weeks to create and was created from over 8,000 separate images taken using microscope lenses. The photographs are printed in large-scale formats, with insects that are millimeters long being presented at up to 9 feet tall. 

About the Artist

Levon Biss is an award-winning British photographer. His work has covered a wide range of photographic genres, from portrait to documentary and sport. Levon’s portrait subjects have included Quentin Tarantino, President Emmanuel Macron, and Usain Bolt, with his work appearing on the covers of TIME, The New York Times, GQ, and Sports Illustrated. His work has been exhibited all over the world and is housed in numerous private and museum collections. Read more about Levon Biss in our blog post. 

Microsculpture: The Insect Portraits of Levon Biss from the collections of Oxford University Museum of Natural History