This first piece by Reis is titled ‘Capturing capacity’. There are various aspects of her work and this piece in particular I find interesting. Through the clever techniques and uses of colour she manages to create a visual illusion and the appearance of movement. The opacity of her work allows the individual layers to mix almost and create the overall effect that seems like a single moment in time has been captured. This piece seems as if the colours have been mixed and then just frozen instantaneously. The theme of movement may have a deeper meaning and might be used to link the movement and production of cells with our body and the physical movement of humans. The piece could also be linked with nature in another way as the techniques used also appear to present constellations and space. Images that share a similar appearance or of various areas and planets in space. This could suggest that Reis considers more than just the physical nature of cells but also science and cells as a wider scope for her art and the indistinctness of areas of her work may be used to represent the unknown areas of astronomical science and how cells behave and appear on different planets. As a whole I find this piece fascinating as the way that she creates the overall appearance and the subject of her pieces are very individualistic. Her works really initiate the viewer to pay attention to the meaning of her work, this is something that is very difficult to achieve but with the way in which she creates her work it is hard not to think about how the piece is created, what it’s representing and why the piece appears in the way it does. 

This second piece is slightly different to the first piece that I have focussed on.  In this piece there is no colour and instead the piece is more focussed on the interactions, patterns and shapes found between the dark and light areas. Even though there is no colour the piece still appears almost hypnotic and you find yourself studying each individual aspect. The central area is very dark but then contrasts with the string like lighter areas, around this area the piece then becomes more distorted and looks to be stretched. There are two aspects to the work and there is a real sense of deception as she manages to create a completely natural appearance but through the use of man-made materials. You are also confused as to whether the appearance of her work is uncontrollable and totally natural in the ways in which the materials interact or whether the pieces are made with sheer precision and in fact Reis controls everything that goes on with her work. Her art is also completed on a relatively small scale which enhances the preciseness in the different areas of her work. Another subtlety of Reis’ art is the fact that her pieces are all made in petri dishes, the circular shape automatically makes the viewer focus their attention on the piece and almost blocks out everything around it, allowing all of the viewers’ attention to be placed on the art.