College of the Canyons Art Gallery unveiled its newest installation, “Life as Art: Images from an Unseen World,” exposing the unlikely combination of science and art.

“We know what a human looks like, we know what water looks like, but do we really know what they look like?” asked Kelly Cude, a COC biology professor-turned-artist.

Gallery Director Larry Hurst said there are some exhibits worth taking a risk.

“This show is really a unique collaboration process, but the idea began about 10 years ago with a book my parents gave me, ‘Micro Art Images in a Hidden World,’” he said.

The book is displayed with the micrographs creating photographic fine art from a water sample from Bridgeport, a hummingbird’s feather and rat intestines, just to name a few of the unseen hidden images.

“I’ve always loved what I saw in a microscope,” said Kelly Burke. “But now I’m excited to share it with the community. It’s truly amazing.”

College trustees and civic leaders welcomed the new light shed on the hybrid of science and art.

“You have a hard time not believing in a God when you look at this,” said Rosalind Wayman, field deputy to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

I must admit to sharing the enthusiasm for the exhibit. My mother, also a microbiologist at the University of Michigan, would have me come into the laboratory after school. “Draw what you see,” she’d say as I stared through the microscope. Petri dishes and tissue cultures were the “canvases” for the still-life I tediously rendered exploring the new world.

“It causes us to stretch our minds and our definitions of what we think art is,” said COC Chancellor Dianne G. Van Hook. “It also causes us to stretch our minds as how we think science is depicted.”

The exhibition will disappear from view Sept. 28. There is one more reception this Saturday, Sept. 21, from noon to 4 p.m., and reprints are available for purchase at $40 and $75 per image. See it while you can.

Gloria Locke is a Santa Clarita resident and producer of “SCV-Arts & Entertainment,” which airs Fridays and Sundays on SCVTV.