Joby Razzell Hollis

scientist, advocate, artist

Art and Design

Art is an invaluable tool for expressing ideas. Science and art are not mutually exclusive, but interwoven: every time we create scientific diagrams, illustrations, or figures, we are trying to visually depict data in accordance with the ideas, theories (and biases) we have. I enjoy using my artistic background and experience to ensure that my science is presented both effectively, and beautifully. Here are some of my favourites.

  • I created this image from the silhouettes of over 1400 pieces of plastic that had been removed from the stomachs of just 76 seabird fledglings in 2021. I had photographed the plastics, and then measured their sizes, shapes, and colours using automated image processing. The spiral shows how these plastics vary in each of those properties, and if made in real life it would be over a metre wide. This work was done at the Natural History Museum, London.
  • I accidentally created this false colour image of plastic pollution while processing the original photograph. Each object detected by the program in the image was assigned a false colour overlay, but ended up creating a rainbow from top to bottom. In reality, most of these plastics are beige but started out white, and their colour may be an important indicator of age/alteration.