Florilegium Artist_Chris Bondante

Chris Bondante

 

I have a master’s degree in scientific and medical illustration from California State University, Long Beach and a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Arizona. I have worked as a scientific and medical illustrator in California and Arizona as well as a biology teacher at Pima Community College in Tucson.

My interest has always been science and art. The most intricate and beautiful designs are found in the natural world, from the anatomy of a flower to the inside of cells, and the complex ways things work together inside a living organism. I like to look closely at things for, on this minute level, beauty is found.”

As a child, the Sonoran Desert was my home. I sat quietly for hours watching the bizarre and fascinating desert creatures, their habits and rituals - little dramas unfolding. I walked into adulthood amongst the rocks and cactus. As an adult I studied science as well as art. I saw how the desert functions as a unique biological entity, each piece fitting. I admire the communities of plants and animals that are at home here. It is not a land of symmetry – nothing is ordered, nothing cultivated, and yet there is an “inharmonious harmony” and incredible beauty to the landscape.