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Seeing the Invisible: Emily Stapleton-Jefferis at the Randall Centre

11 November 2025

When you walk into the Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics at King’s College London, you’re stepping into a place where scientists are peering into an invisible world and uncovering the hidden structures of life at the smallest scale. And now visitors are also greeted by a striking artwork by artist Emily Stapleton-Jefferis, inspired directly by the science taking place inside these walls.

Article written by Dr Fiona Wardle (King's College London) and Emily Stapleton-Jefferis.

Emily, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, is known for creating artworks which play with scale, inviting audiences to experience the world through a fresh lens:

She undertook a residency at the Randall Centre as part of a collaboration to explore how artistic creativity and scientific curiosity can illuminate each other.

Emily spent a week embedded in the Centre, talking to researchers, observing their experiments, and diving into their world of data analysis and discovery. Her sketchbook quickly filled with ideas:

  • Colour of black – the unknown void
  • Diversity – across time, scale, and size
  • Seeing the invisible – revealing what the naked eye cannot
  • Layers of structures – focusing on different layers under the microscope
  • Membranes – how the separation of the nucleus may have been pivotal in the evolution of complex life

In particular, one conversation captured a key scientific challenge: understanding how so much diversity could have evolved, and how mixing and matching just a few molecular “bits” can generate astonishing variation.

Emily Stapleton-Jefferis at the Randall Centre
Emily watches summer intern, Tina Moholkar, set up a molecular experiment to cut a bacterial DNA sample into small pieces using enzymes

Photo 51 and the Black Void

At the heart of Emily’s new artwork is Photo 51, the now-famous X-ray diffraction image taken by Rosalind Franklin that played a pivotal role in revealing the structure of DNA. During her residency, Emily visited the King’s College London Archives to see the original plate and the camera that captured it. 

Emily and Professor of Molecular Biophysics, Brian Sutton
Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biophysics, Brian Sutton, explaining to Emily how the camera (centre) was used to take X-ray diffraction images of DNA.

From this single X-ray diffraction image, her composition radiates outward: rings of colour, gradients, and patterns drawn from molecules, cells, muscle fibres, and other diffraction data. All overlay a central background of black, a symbolic unknown void, which evokes the mysteries science has yet to solve.

Circles recur throughout, echoing both biology and the tools that explore it: the lenses of microscopes, the petri dishes, the centrifuges that spin samples in perfect arcs, and the membranes enclosing the cell and its nucleus. These forms remind us that equipment and life itself share this repeating geometry, and that, like scientific knowledge, everything begins from a central point and expands.

Emily and Brian Viewing the original X-ray diffraction image, known as Photo 51.
Viewing the original X-ray diffraction image, now known as Photo 51.

Conversations Across Disciplines

The collaboration was not a one-way street. Scientists at the Randall Centre discovered how an artist perceives their work, often highlighting aspects they themselves take for granted. Emily’s “Key Phrases” sketchbook page became a favourite among the scientists, distilling their research into phrases such as “Blue sky science”, “Seeing things for the first time”, “Spectacular”, “Nothing is rigid”, with one scientist reflecting “It was so enlightening to see my work through a non-scientist’s eyes (and sketchbook!). It has made me think more about the words I use.”

They also saw her creative process up close: layering images, refining iteratively, and exploring how subtle shifts in form or colour can change meaning. Scientists provided feedback on draft designs and helped select the final piece. As one remarked, “So lovely to see how the artistic process is built!”

Emily and Dr Elisabetta Brunello speaking in an office
Emily and Dr Elisabetta Brunello discuss how diffraction techniques are now used to understand how muscle contracts.

Science, Art, and the Human Element

From the very beginning, this project was about more than just visualising science. It was about the people behind the science and their curiosity. Emily’s final piece, entitled This is Us, now stands at the entrance to the Randall Centre (more about the Centre). It welcomes visitors every day, sparking conversations and inviting reflection. A reminder that the unknown is a space for questions, exploration and wonder.

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