surreal science
Created between 2006 and 2012, the Surreal Science serie exhibits my first artworks ever made. And so, mark the beginning of my serious artistic life. These three surrealist works served as a personal farewell to the laboratories i worked in and they translate the invisible structures of my work into a surreal creation on canvas.
Using oil and acrylic paints, the series shows a microscopic world that represents the laboratories field of investigation or modelorganism. I wanted to show the tiny, cellular structures, usually seen only through a lens, but in a surrealistic space. Surrealism has always had my admiration.
two micro lenses
Painted in 2006, this is the very first large-scale artwork of my life. The piece features a giant budding yeast cell peeled open to reveal its internal organelles. Yeast was the fundamental model organism in the lab and the painting represents the research of the Eukaryotic Microbiology lab (now Molecular Cell Biology).
The composition blends two microscopic techniques: the sharp detail of electron microscopy, my primary expertise at the time, and the glow of fluorescence microscopy. Alongside the yeast, a fungal model organism also used is depicted.
The lab was, at the time, located in the Biological Center in Haren. That same building has since been transformed into a residence and atelier space for artists called The Biotoop. I gave this oil painting as a farewell gift to the department upon my departure. It has since moved with the lab and is now situated at the Zernike Campus.
The Genomic Deep
This oil painting is a surreal scene on the FISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) technique, which I was specialized in during my time at the Genetics Department (UMCG). Taking the abbreviation literally, I created an underwater scene with fish and chromosomes.
The chromosomes are put as sea-like creatures. I depicted fish aligned in a metaphase chromosomal spread which was a direct reference to my work with FISH. Their bodies spotted with glowing dots which represent the Array-CGH fluorescent probes. It was a technique I helped implement in the lab to detect genetic gains or losses in patients.
I gave this work as a farewell gift to the department, and it is now permanently displayed in the corridors of the Genetics Department at the UMCG.
immune surrealism
The final work in my Surreal Science series is a creation of the human immune system. Painted in acrylics, the piece features a figure with a giant lymph node as a head, set upon its transparent body that reveals the intricate network of the lymphatic system.
In the background a lymphatic vessels network and in front a large, central blood vessel. Inside the viewer can see the active defense of the body, a macrophage attacking cancerous white blood cells. I created this piece as a farewell gift for the Pathology Laboratory at the UMCG, where the research i worked on focused on leukemia. This painting remains on permanent display in the corridors of the Pathology Department at the UMCG.