Nilanjana Das

is a Corvallis-based interdisciplinary artist and PhD researcher in Microbiology at Oregon State University. As a fish health biologist, she is captivated by the hidden world of aquatic pathogens - viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites - that quietly shape the lives of salmon and trout in the Pacific Northwest. Her research explores how environmental stressors such as warming waters, pollution, and habitat degradation disrupt the delicate balance between fish and their pathogens, tipping ecosystems toward disease outbreaks and mortality. By merging microbiology with sculpture, Nilanjana brings visibility and emotional resonance to threats that are both invisible and profoundly consequential. Her large-scale, hand-crafted sculptures transform intricate and ornate microbes into immersive, delicate installations. Using reed, wire, tracing paper, and fabric, she constructs larger-than-life representations that reveal both internal structures and external features, inviting viewers to explore the remarkable adaptations and survival strategies of aquatic organisms. In Spokane, Nilanjana will continue this practice of visual storytelling with a new series of life-sized sculptures portraying habitat-forming deep-sea corals and sponges, along with their associated invertebrates - such as sea stars, crabs, and larval fish. As with her pathogen-focused work, these pieces aim to reveal the deep sea not as a distant abstraction, but as a living, fragile ecosystem teeming with astonishing life forms and intricate interdependence.

You can see more of Nili's work on Instagram.