Laura Splan is a transdisciplinary artist working at the intersections of science, technology, and culture. She creates conceptually layered and carefully crafted artworks that explore the sublime complexity of the biological world while unraveling entanglements of natural and built systems. Her research-driven projects connect hidden artifacts of biotechnology to everyday lives through embodied interactions and sensory experiences. Recent exhibitions have included immersive installations, networked devices, and tactile sculptures. Splan often engages audiences with themes in her work through companion programming, including participatory workshops covering laboratory techniques, specialized software, and textiles methods that she uses in her own studio practice. Her artworks exploring biomedical imaginaries have been commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control Foundation and the Bruges Triennial. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Arts & Design, Pioneer Works, and New York Hall of Science and is represented in the collections of the Thoma Art Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, NYU’s Langone Art Collection, and the Berkeley Art Museum. Reviews and articles including her work have appeared in The New York Times, Wired, Discover, designboom, American Craft, and Frieze. Splan’s research and residencies have been supported by the Jerome Foundation, Institute for Electronic Arts, Harvestworks, the Knight Foundation, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.

In this episode, Laura and I discuss where art and science meet, Sticky settings in software and DNA, the relationship between learning and teaching, the presence of sound, early memories of where her art practice began and where it stands now.