The Art Gallery at Eastern Connecticut State University is presenting “Precision: Illustrative Technique in Art and Science” until April 25. This curation of “cognitive art” brings together 27 artists who attempt to visualize the exactitude of science.

“Precision” draws inspiration from fields like biology, geology and astronomy — as well as empirical tools like maps and diagrams — to artistically convey scientific discoveries. “These discoveries often only exist in the formulas of researchers until artists perform their magical visualizations,” said Gallery Director Yulia Tikhonova. “A detailed examination of scientific discoveries and natural phenomena is merely an invitation to revel in the artistic imagination.”

The mixed-media exhibition marries art with science in a showcase of all artistic disciplines — from drawing to video. “Over the centuries, the dialectic between the arts and sciences has moved like a pendulum between rivalry and close accord,” said Tikhonova. “These disciplines cannot exist without each other, although they continually battle for primacy. This struggle for primacy is richly evoked in ‘Precision.’”

“Scientific illustration presents unique challenges,” said featured artist Gary Raham. “In my case, scientific illustration presents the satisfying challenge of using my left brain to get all the scientific details correct and my right brain to come up with a new and satisfying way to have the observer say, ‘Oh, my. Now I see what is happening clearly. And it’s beautiful!’”

For artist Rose Nestler, conveying scientific truth and fact is not the motive. “My work may not be entirely accurate but it’s often precise, meaning every piece I make involves an ecosystem of measurements where all parts rely and relate to each other but may not work outside of the individual sculpture or video.”

Artist Angela Su explained her artistic approach in this way: “The pseudo-scientific images I created oscillate between the real and the fantastical. They combine the precision of scientific sketches with a mythical aesthetic, challenging the audience’s visual sensation of the pleasure of pain, and one’s fascination with the grotesque.”