Art and science will come together once again at Marimurtra Botanical Garden. Illustrator and biologist Ana Ruano Rubio has been selected to participate in the first edition of the Eugeni Sierra International Botanical Illustration Residency, an initiative promoted by the Carl Faust Foundation to reinforce the role of scientific illustration as a tool for knowledge, research and science communication.
The call for applications, which attracted international interest with the participation of sixteen artists from around the world, has culminated in the selection of a creator who combines two disciplines that have often been inseparable throughout the history of botany: science and art.
A scientific perspective transformed into illustration
The jury, made up of scientific illustrator Carles Puche and biologist and Carl Faust Foundation board member Josep Maria Camarasa, especially highlighted the scientific rigour and compositional quality of the submitted work.
After years dedicated to scientific research in molecular biology, Ana Ruano decided to redirect her professional career towards scientific illustration, specialising through the Master’s Degree in Scientific Illustration of Natural Sciences at the University of Girona.
For Ruano, this combination of disciplines is something natural:
“Illustration has always been part of my life and I decided to unite my two vocations, science and drawing, in order to express my vision of the environment and make science accessible to all audiences.”
Her works combine traditional techniques such as watercolour, ink and gouache with digital tools, creating pieces that seek a balance between scientific precision and artistic sensitivity.
Documenting Mediterranean flora from within the garden
During the residency, which will take place between July and September, the artist will develop a project focused on the Mediterranean flora found at Marimurtra, with special attention to singular and endemic species, as well as the evolutionary mechanisms that explain their adaptation to coastal environments.
She will work in direct collaboration with the garden’s scientific and educational teams, turning the botanical garden itself into a laboratory, classroom and source of inspiration.
Recovering the spirit of scientific patronage
The Eugeni Sierra Residency was also created with the aim of highlighting a discipline that often remains little known despite being essential to botanical research: scientific illustration.
This initiative pays tribute to Eugeni Sierra i Ràfols, a reference figure in botanical illustration in our country, while recovering Carl Faust’s founding spirit: promoting research, knowledge and scientific communication through new forms of collaboration.
Beyond selecting an artist, this residency aims to create new ways of explaining biodiversity and bringing it closer to the public through an artistic perspective.
