Seeing the Beauty in Art and Science
While artists have frequently turned to science and engineering for inspiration (say, Picasso’s use of non-Euclidean geometry or the Futurists’ obsession with the automobile), it’s not often that scientists take a moment to see the art in their own work.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Davis, recently did just that, thanks to its Health, Equity and Wellness Committee, or HEW. The committee invited faculty, staff and students to explore “Art in Science,” a gallery of scientific images, computational visualizations and artistic interpretations that blur the line between fine art and scientific inquiry.
Under dappled light from the trees in front of the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility, or GBSF, attendees explored the outdoor gallery on its opening day. The pictures were mounted onto standing display panels typically reserved for scientific posters at conferences. There were 17 submitted artworks, presented without their scientific context to encourage viewers to explore their artistic merits first and foremost.
“The ‘Art in Science’ celebration was created with two goals in mind: to learn more about each other’s work and to celebrate the beauty and breadth of biomedical research,” said Alba Alfonso García, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and chair of HEW. “At its core, the event was about strengthening the connections within our biomedical engineering community.”
The artworks remain on display inside the GBSF. Later this year, the exhibit will relocate to Aggie Square, the Sacramento-based UC Davis innovation district home to the department’s Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development, a second, expansive location for its device development facility, Tech Foundry, a biotech training program for high school students and more. Alfonso García said she hopes this exhibition is the start of a tradition that will bring the department together year after year.
Below are a few highlights from the inaugural “Art in Science” exhibit, each reflecting the creativity and curiosity inherent to research.
“An IHC Sunset” by Kylie Lin
Existing somewhere between pointillism and impressionism, biomedical engineering undergraduate Kylie Lin’s piece depicts a setting sun in Bothell, Washington, just outside of Seattle. IHC stands for immunohistochemistry, a method for detecting proteins in tissue by staining samples. It’s also a clue to the artwork’s trick: The canvas is skin, with Lin’s artful use of stains to create the painterly scene.
“Blossoms of the Neural-Glioma Garden” by Sangwoo Kim
Is it a garden or outer space? Are those roots or distant stars? This piece by biomedical engineering graduate student Sangwoo Kim has an ineffable, slippery immensity to it, not unlike the massive canvases used by abstract expressionists to explore a mood, an idea or a feeling with shapes and colors. The irony, however, is that the scale of the image is quite small. It depicts a model of microscopic glioma cells, neurons, astrocytes and microglia (all parts of the brain), which are colored blue, red, green and yellow, respectively. For Kim, the yellow dots are bees swarming to pollinate a flower in a vibrant neural garden.
“Blood Brain Barrier Spheroids” by Ryan Toedebusch
The repetition of a subject with slight differences recalls the playfulness of pop art and, specifically, Andy Warhol’s penchant for screen printing. Ryan Toedebusch, a research and technical staff member in the Carney Lab, has presented 60 self-assembled blood-brain barrier spheroids. The striking pink color comes from the astrocytes, with the green representing endothelial cells and the red pericytes. The array is for a high-throughput screening of the spheroids’ interactions with other nanoparticles, such as nanoplastics.
Can’t make it to the exhibit? Check out the “Art in Science” virtual gallery.