"Preservation of Bodies" is an exhibition that emerged from deep science and art research and development at the University of Kansas while Emily Mulvaney held the title of “Lance Williams Art and Science Artist Resident and Lecturer.” From Fall 2024 to Spring 2025, Mulvaney conducted historical scientific research in Kansas and Missouri, worked alongside researchers in the KU Molecular Biosciences laboratory, and experimented with bioplastics as material in her studio. These endeavors inform this body of work, which include several sculptural pieces featuring bioplastics used as a placeholder for living beings, and works made in collaboration with a species of bacteria called Chromobacterium violaceum. The bacterial pieces observe cell-to-cell communication, or quorum sensing, through pigment-shifting agar screens that are preserved in vacuum sealed bags. 

In this debut solo exhibition, Mulvaney explores the procedures and materials used in the laboratory to preserve, maintain, and archive specimens and other nonhumans. She investigates the history and ethics of such practices, asking whether we can expand or introduce new ways of halting degradation. Through her work, Mulvaney questions if true preservation exists, and whether fragments of a being can sufficiently represent its entirety.  

Please join us FRI, SEPT 26 at Off-Site Art Space from 5PM to 7PM for the opening reception of Emily Mulvaney's debut solo show, "Preservation of Bodies."
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Exhibition Dates: SEPT 26 - OCT 25, 2025
Closing Artist Talk: SAT, OCT 25, 11AM - 1PM
Gallery Hours: THUR-SAT, 4PM - 8PM

Contact: 

Merry Sun, Director of Exhibitions, Off-Site Art Space

merry@ku.edu