EAUX-VIVES PHARMACY × HELNIUM
Geneva, Switzerland · 2025
A GENEVA PHARMACY WITH ITS OWN HISTORY
Founded in Geneva in 1950 by pharmacists Friedrich and Mrs Steffen, Pharmacie des Eaux-Vives has always had a particular connection with nature, medicinal plants and the preparation of its own remedies. Friedrich Steffen himself was passionate about natural sciences, botany and art a history that immediately resonated with the way I approach my own work. Today, the pharmacy continues to develop and manufacture its own preparations in its laboratories in Geneva, with a strong focus on natural and functional medicine. For their entrance hall, we wanted to create two artworks that would represent this identity through something that actually comes from the pharmacy itself. I selected two of their formulations: Vitamin C and Vitamin B50 Complex. Both products were prepared and crystallized, then imaged in high resolution using polarized light microscopy. Their completely different crystalline structures became two large-format artworks, now permanently exhibited in the entrance hall of the Pharmacie des Eaux-Vives.
VITAMIN B50 - THE BAROQUE VITAMIN
Vitamin B50 is not a single vitamin, but a complex combining several vitamins of the B group, typically including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12 in different forms and proportions. This mixture makes it particularly interesting to crystallize. Unlike a pure compound, where one main crystalline phase may dominate, the B50 formulation contains several molecular species with different solubilities and crystallization behaviours. Its characteristic yellow color, largely associated with the presence of B vitamins such as riboflavin (B2), is already visible to the naked eye. Under polarized light microscopy, however, the mixture reveals a much more complex architecture. Within the same preparation, I observed long dendritic growths, sharp spine-like structures, isolated diamond-shaped crystals and fine ramifications resembling ears of wheat. Different crystalline morphologies appear next to each other, sometimes merging and sometimes growing independently. This extraordinary density of forms inspired the title “Vitamin Baroque.” The image almost feels ornamental, but every structure emerged spontaneously during crystallization. The artwork was later recognized by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Scientific Image Competition and featured in Nature, extending what began as an experiment for the pharmacy into a scientific image recognized for its unusual architecture.
VITAMIN C - The Mineral Bloom
Vitamin C started from something visually much simpler: a fine white crystalline powder. Under polarized light, however, its crystallization reveals a completely different architecture from B50. Instead of dense dendritic growth, the structures develop into more regular, repeating forms, with overlapping flowers crystalline domains. There is a stronger sense of symmetry and repetition: the same basic geometries appear again and again. Polarized light makes these structures visible through birefringence. As light travels through the anisotropic crystal, different components of the polarized light experience different refractive indices, producing a phase difference and, after passing through the analyzer, the interference colors visible in the final image. The chemistry builds the structure; light reveals it.
PRESS & RECOGNITION
LÉMAN BLEU (Regional)- TV REPORT
Geneva · 2025
Léman Bleu filmed a report on Helnium and the hidden beauty of matter, exploring how chemistry and microscopy can reveal structures that normally remain invisible to the human eye. Part of the report was filmed at Pharmacie des Eaux-Vives, where the Vitamin C and Vitamin B50 artworks offered a concrete example of this process, from an everyday formulation to a microscopic image and, finally, an artwork.
SNSF SCIENTIFIC IMAGE COMPETITION
Biel/Bienne · 2026
One year later, Vitamin B50 “Vitamin Baroque” received First Prize in the “Object of Study” category at the Swiss National Science Foundation Scientific Image Competition. The image brings together an unusual diversity of crystalline structures within the same field: dendrites, sharp spine-like growths, isolated crystals and fine branching forms. The work was subsequently exhibited at the Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography.
NATURE - IMAGE OF THE MONTH
2026
Following the SNSF competition, Vitamin Baroque was also featured by Nature as an Image of the Month. From a formulation developed by a local Geneva pharmacy to an internationally featured scientific image, the work shows how much complexity and beauty can remain hidden inside materials we encounter every day.
