Seeds – Five Questions with the Authors, Rob Kesseler & Wolfgang Stuppy

We had the privilege of sitting down with Rob Kesseler and Wolfgang Stuppy, the authors of Seeds – Time Capsules of Life, to explore the extraordinary world of seeds. In this interview, they share how their collaboration transformed botanical microscopy into breathtaking imagery, reveal some of the most surprising discoveries they’ve made, and discuss the vital role seeds play in our planet’s ecosystems.

  1. Why does the world need this book?

ROB: Awareness of the beauty and complexity of seeds is a valuable portal into understanding the vital part seeds play in maintaining the diversity of our ecosystems at a time when our planet faces serious climate challenges.

Each seed, each specimen is a new chapter of discovery, one cannot help but be amazed at the variety of shapes, surfaces, and patterns, and the many ingenious dispersal mechanisms they have evolved to ensure successive generations of each plant. Working with Wolfgang Stuppy I knew the fantastic forms of seeds would be inspirational to many creative people: architects, fashion designers, jewellers, ceramicists, and sculptors, as well as plant lovers.

WOLFGANG: Because everyone is familiar with seeds and yet, very few people, including most scientists, have ever had the chance to see the unbelievable beauty and sophistication of these seemingly mundane structures. Popular scientific books on seeds are scarce, and none offer such a spectacularly beautiful, deep, and scientifically sound insight into their diversity and natural history for non-specialist audiences. While people know what seeds are and what they “do”, hardly anyone, not even botanists, pay much attention to them unless they are useful, primarily for agriculture or ornamental purposes. Our book provides a unique overview of the diversity of seeds from around the world and highlights their crucial role in the grand scheme of life on Earth.

We hope that through its unique perspective that combines science and art, Seeds – Time Capsules of Life reaches audiences of many different backgrounds, especially those without a specific interest in plants or the natural world. Our greatest achievement would be if, in its readers, it can re-ignite the innate fascination for the natural world that resides within each of us.

  1. Your book is a true fusion of work between an artist and a scientist. How is the book enhanced by having both of you working on it?

ROB: Complex subjects such as this require multiple voices to fully communicate and express the fundamental role seeds play. Historically, artists have occupied an important role in recording the wealth of plant species for scientific reference, but more recently scientists have appreciated that the artist is able to express qualities beyond the realm of conventional scientific illustration, revealing new perspectives and enthusing new audiences. Scientists are governed by working within strict protocols and methods, whereas I as the artist have a more freedom to move beyond conventional boundaries. This freedom however also requires a considered methodology based upon the scientific knowledge gained by working with Wolfgang Stuppy. 

WOLFGANG: Scientist are tied to rigorous protocols in the way they work and think. Artists, on the other hand, are completely free in their working and thinking. In a way, the two of us working together was two worlds colliding. We both had to get used to the other person’s way of thinking and how we each approach our joint project. For me, as the scientist, working with Rob gave me the chance to see far beyond science, to discover the world of art and artists. It certainly made me see many things with a wider perspective and not only from a strictly scientific angle. To be honest, I jealously admired the freedom with which Rob could approach the subject, whereas I had to wear the tight corsage of scientific rigour. But it is exactly this combination of artistic freedom and scientific rigour that makes our book so unique. I don’t know of any other book that does that in the way we did it.

  1. Do you have a favourite spread, page, or photograph from the book? What is the story behind it?

ROB: It is hard to choose a favourite image as there is such an amazing diversity. When collecting material for the book I was amazed to find out just how tiny the seeds of orchids are, almost dust-like. The seeds of Ophrys ferrum-equinum, the Horseshoe bee orchid, were collected from outside my studio in Corfu and like many orchid seeds they have wonderful sculptural elongated honeycomb structures. They were coloured to reflect the colour of the orchid flower and arranged to reflect the horseshoe pattern on the petal of the flower.

I am also very fond of the dried seedpod of the Blackstonia perfoliata, Yellow wort, a member of the Gentian family. The delicate yellow flowers emerge in spring around my studio in Corfu. In the image the seed pod is split open revealing one remaining seed; the green sepals form a collar around the pod while the twisted dried petals on top appear like a piece of exotic millenary from a Renaissance fresco.

WOLFGANG: I do love the image that is on the cover of the new edition. It belongs to a member of the Loasaceae family which are infamous for their really nasty stinging hairs. I knew that members of this family have got some of the most amazing seeds ever and we needed a spectacular new cover image. Therefore, I contacted Prof. Maximilian Weigend at Bonn University who is a specialist on the Loasaceae. He very kindly sent me some seed samples from his scientific collection, and we struck gold with the image of a seed of Caiophora archevaletae.

left to right: a seed of Blackstonia perfoliata; a seed of Ophrys ferrumequinum; the front cover of Seeds: a seed of Caiophora archevaletae

  1. Who or where do you get your inspiration from? 

ROB: Inspiration comes in many forms: walking in the countryside, observing and collecting specimens not knowing just what they might reveal. Then there is the diversity of artistic responses to plants over the past 500 years which is astonishing; there are many great examples, spanning scientific illustration through to abstract forms of expression. The earliest microscopic work of Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703) that were illustrated in his ground-breaking book Micrographia are remarkable,and the examples of plant anatomy of Nehemiah Grew (1641 – 1712) are particular favourites of mine. The watercolours of Franz Bauer (1758 – 1840) who was employed by Joseph Banks to record the many new plants arriving at Kew have a perfectly observed delicacy that sit in marked contrast to the impressionist paintings of Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) whose powerful experimentation with colour in capturing the essence of the plants in his garden at Giverny is especially moving. 

Moving into the 20th century, the Hungarian painter and photographer Lázló Moholy-Nagy played a pivotal role in presenting a unified vision of art and science through his creation of the Centre for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT where he created ground breaking exhibitions in which contemporary art, science, and architecture were presented alongside each other.

Finally, I dedicated Seeds to Madeline Harley, formerly a palynologist at Kew who, 25 years ago, responded with generous positivity to my suggestion for a botanical art and science collaboration. We created our first book with Papadakis, the award-winning Pollen, the Hidden Sexuality of Flowers, that created new audiences around the world and which made it possible for me to work with many wonderful plant scientists in the creation of new forms of artistic expression. Through Madeline I met Wolfgang Stuppy with whom I developed an inspiring partnership in which I was privileged to be able to draw upon his vast knowledge of plants that was essential in expanding my own understanding when developing the images.

WOLFGANG: I dedicated this book to my PhD supervisor, Herbert Huber, a true genius with extensive knowledge of both plants and insects. His brutally rational way of thinking, grounded in a vast body of knowledge and experience, was incredibly liberating and enlightening to me at a young age. Few people have had a greater influence on me than Herbert Huber. Unique among botanists, he was also a great specialist on seeds. He passed his fascination for seeds on to me, and it has never left me since. When I became the Seed Morphologist at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, where seeds from all kinds of plants from all around the world are gathered, my passion for seeds was re-ignited, as if pouring fuel onto a fire. With Rob Kesseler I eventually found the perfect partner to produce this unique book with which I could share my fascination for seeds with the rest of the world.

  1. What’s the most fascinating or surprising thing that you’ve learnt during your research?

ROB: As an artist, it is a privilege not only to work with top level scientists but to have the value of one’s work recognised by them, but it requires a deep immersion to learn more about their methods and immersive access to their technologies to be able to translate scientific data into colourful artworks. For this new book I have been fortunate to draw upon a range of microscopy technologies, each with their own way of revealing different visual qualities.

WOLFGANG: As a scientist you typically work on narrowly defined projects, such as the seeds of a specific group of plants which means your scope is very limited. When starting to work with Rob Kesseler on our book which is really about giving an overview of the “seeds of the world”, I was forced to vastly expand my horizon and do a great deal of reading and researching so as to find the most interesting and appropriate seeds we needed to tell and illustrate our story. It was whilst writing our books on seeds and fruits that I acquired the knowledge that made me a real expert in the field of fruits and seeds. I would never have acquired this breadth of knowledge working on narrow scientific projects alone.

The most fascinating and surprising thing I have learned during our exploration of the seed world is the existence of tiny seeds whose seed coat has the structure of a honeycomb (e.g. LamourouxiaCastillejaLoasaCaiophora). Until then, I didn’t know that such extreme seed coats existed, and their structure looks just amazing under a microscope. They are still my favourite seeds!

           6.     Is that the real colour of the seeds?

ROB: Not exactly; as they dry seeds change colour, often with muted tones, so I have introduced colour based on the colours of the plant and its flowers from which the seed was collected to create micro seed portraits. Colour is used to distinguish functional and structural qualities of the seed and above all to capture the character and essence of each specimen. Each seed carries within it the DNA that governs the colours and patterns of the plant that will grow from it and my additions of colour reflect that. In nature colour has many functions such as to attract insect pollinators and birds for seed dispersal. As an artist, I use colour to attract a human audience and my dispersal mechanisms are through the publication of books like this. 

Seeds – Time Capsules of Life is out now! You can find all available links to purchase here