Name: Michele Banks Which came first in your life, the science or the art? Art. I have no academic background in science—or art, actually! I have degrees in Political Science and Russian Studies, so it really makes no sense that I ended up as a painter of microbes. Life is strange. I started painting as a creative outlet about 20 years ago, doing mostly abstract watercolour. When I showed my work, people started telling me…

Continue reading

Name: Elaine Quave Which came first in your life, the science or the art? I found a love for both art and science through spending time outside in nature as a kid. I liked to observe the plants and animals in the woods behind my house but I also enjoyed manipulating materials from outside like clay, twigs, and grass reeds. In high school I had the opportunity attend The South Carolina Governor’s School for the…

Continue reading

Name: Rebecca Kamen Which came first in your life, the science or the art? Immense curiosity and the process of discovery serve as a catalyst for the development of my artwork. A passion for science developed at a young age while exploring mysterious micro and macro worlds through the lens of a small microscope and a cardboard telescope. My first chemistry set also fuelled a scientific curiosity planting seeds that, years later, sparked the creation of Divining…

Continue reading

Name: Marnie Blair Which came first in your life, the science or the art? Science arrived unexpectedly. I survived cardiac arrest in my second year of university and subsequently discovered that I have a cardiac electrophysiologic disorder called Long QT Syndrome. I rely on an implanted defibrillator to maintain regular pace and rhythm. I became interested in how one’s sense of embodiment and identity become profoundly affected by illness, diagnosis, and recovery. I eventually went to…

Continue reading

Liljana Mead Martin is an artist living and working on unceded Coast Salish territories, Vancouver. Her work explores the intimate connections between body, ecology, and the built environment. Drawing these ideas together through a mix of artistic methods, she aims to surface deep rooted ideas driving the production of space in contemporary life. These ideas interweave beautifully in her latest exhibition, The Bedrock Gardener, which launched at the Dynamo Arts Collective on May 31. In…

Continue reading

“I have stromal keratitis or HSK, and there is no cure,” Scottish born artist Suzi Morris tells Art the Science. “I have lived with this terrifying virus for 40 years and it remains my everyday unseen enemy with whom I share my body.” Keratitis is the third leading cause of infectious blindness. It’s a relentless virus that resists detection and treatment by confusing its host. It’s also the inspiration behind the works in Morris’s latest…

Continue reading

Fostering interdisciplinary collaborations is a key part of growing SciArt culture. While there are organizations that support artist-scientist partnerships, they cannot do it alone. Building the infrastructure for cross-disciplinary synergy needs to also take place within our educational institutions. As you can imagine, this is no easy task. But, that’s not stopping the Montreal SciArt non-profit, Convergence – Perceptions of Neuroscience, from taking on the challenge. In an effort to promote a bi-directional channel for…

Continue reading

“In an instant: a moment of time defined as infinitesimal,” reads a plaque by a wide wall of Polaroid photographs, “So short that it becomes difficult to measure, and more difficult to experience.” I’m at Science World—an interactive science centre in Vancouver, BC—for the first time in years. It feels strange (and a little thrilling) to visit the centre as an adult. But although I can feel my inner 6 year old itching to explore…

Continue reading

Angela McQuillan‘s career has taken her to some interesting places. She’s worked in a cancer research lab, attended art school, displayed her work in an international airport, and gone fishing for pond scum in neighbourhoods across Philadelphia. But no matter where her creative practice takes her, the sciartist and curator is clear on one thing: science and art belong together. “Artists can explore and contextualize the boundaries being pushed in science,” she explains, “and better…

Continue reading

Marine geophysics buff, printmaker, science communicator—Ele Willoughby is all of these things and more. Using a mix of techniques, the sciartist showcases endangered species, microbes, historical figures from science, and more. She brings them to life in her colourful images and prints, offering a new look at Schroedinger’s Cat, Louis Pasteur’s bacteria, and everything in between. Here, Willoughby shares thoughts on her creative process, her winding career path, and the notorious divide between art and…

Continue reading