Art from molecular models

"Heme", by Alexander Kobulnicky

In my travels here and about online, I recently found the paintings of Alexander Kobulnicky. He paints molecular models of, well, molecules, ranging from the life-giving (“Heme”, to the left) to the fun-related (THC, if that’s your thing) to the life-taking (CO.) The background of the artwork is most noteworthy — Mr. Kobulnicky paints what comes to mind with each different molecule. I think thatthorazine is the one with the best background, although psilocybin comes in a close second.

Each painting comes with a little description of the relevant chemistry and an interesting structural note to make a chemist’s heart warm: “These molecules are rendered as space-filling models, in a natural, low-energy conformation, and displayed from an angle that shows off as much of their structure as possible.”

While I’m not quite to the art-collecting stage of my life yet, I have to say that I’m pretty enthusiastic about owning one of these someday.