The Annual CUIMC Fine Art Exhibition
Amelia’s Statement: Art and Science share a symbiotic relationship in my vision. They both attempt to understand and interpret the world around us.
This work exhibited is from a series which explores the coming of age for an adolescent girl. It shows her floating into a old town square, the balloons are microscopic images of ovaries representing her sexuality. The use of medical metaphors as in the microscopic i
Ansel’s Statement: I am a clinical laboratory scientist-in-training who borrows elements from various disciplines for his creative work, ranging from botany and entomology to photochemistry and Gestalt psychology.
The Metaphysics of Love by April Tracey
April's Statement: April explores her never ending desire to understand the nature of consciousness through themed bodies of works. The Metaphysics of Love is a selected image from "Photo - Relating to Light" first presented in 2016.
Ashley’s Statement: Growing up in the suburbs of Lodi, NJ, I was always fascinated by art in its various forms of music, dance, and drawings/paintings. It wasn’t until I began traveling abroad for medical brigades during my sophomore year of college that I began to explore the power of photography. I became enamored by the diversity that could be captured in a single lens shot as I traveled to various countries, mostly in Latin America. This interest in travel photography coincided with my global health interest, specifically in underprivileged countries. While working as a clinical research coordinator at CUIMC, my interest in medical research met my love for global health, which prompted me to pursue a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, graduating in May of 2017. Ultimately, I aim to pursue a medical degree with a concentration in international health where I can combine my love of research, medicine, and photography. With regards to photography, I hope to be able to capture unique and intimate moments that reflect the culture of the country/people I visit and also to shed light on beautiful scenery that may be overlooked or unrecognized. I am currently a Clinical Research Coordinator at CUIMC in the Department of Abdominal Surgery.
The Renaissance Man: Portrait of the Psychoanalyst by Christine Corbat and David V. Forrest, M.D.
Christine’s Statement: Christiane Corbat was born in Geneva, Switzerland. She has lived in Europe, Peru, New Zealand and the United States. She was educated in the US, graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 1967 where she studied with Joseph Campbell. Her interest in world mythology, art and healthcare issues has been combined in a unique form, using sculpture as a way to transform personal perspective. Her work has been exhibited internationally in museums and medical venues and is featured in numerous books and publications on art and healing. Christiane lectures, writes and gives workshops in the US, Europe and New Zealand. She is co-founder of Waking Dreams & Warrior Women, a non-profit organization of healthcare professionals, artists and community leaders, that explores the relationship between the arts and healing. She is a graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of Healing.
Christine’s Statement: I am drawn to color, texture and beauty in nature, from faces through a lens to cells under a microscope. I would like to explore 3-dimensional mixed media and other forms of sculpture. Some of my inspiration comes from personal challenges as a former Type I diabetic and two-time organ transplant recipient (Pancreas after Kidney transplant) as well as my non-profit work with the Transplant/Organ Donation community. A very wise nephrologist once told me “The maintenance and caring for transplant patients is not a science, but an art.” I enjoy painting, photography, exploring different art mediums and travel.
The Endless Enigma of the Undiscovered Country
Constance’s Statement:
Study 8: Doors upon doors, who can tell what’s beyond the door? Alice had to drink this or eat that to get through her doors, maybe the way in is through the trees.
Study 11: This set perplexes me. I accept it, but still don’t see it. Too many people I trust have seen it and were moved by it. I kept it in the series because of the visceral reaction of trusted viewers. A wall and a lake?
Study 15: Reminants carelessly dumped on a windowsill. Lush, succulent leaves. Beginnings and ends, perhaps potential for reemergence. But why there?
Study 19: The Classic street view with opulent materialism. But desolation and emptiness abide beyond. Isn’t that where everything ends up eventually?
In 1981, I joined the Medical Photography division of the Columbia University’s Center for Biomedical Communications and had the opportunity to shoot both stills and video of cutting edge medical research and re-discovered the inherent beauty of nature. In addition, I also shoot Fine art images, which led to a Master’s in Media Arts, and continuing now for an MFA in Media Arts at Long Island University. My work represents facets of who I am, and how I perceive the world.
Craig’s Statement: Craig Kandell grew up in Brooklyn and on Long Island. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and attended the Art Students League of New York. Craig lives in Manhattan. He has swum around Manhattan on four separate occasions. Craig is grateful to be an Officer of Administration at Columbia University’s Mailman School. His first book is titled Whim, Woe and Wonder. Craig is focused on his next Writing/Illustration endeavor, !Askance! He maintains a website at www.ckk.name Presented for exhibition this year are two framed works, one ~ 20”w x 40”h, Whim, Woe and Wonder, Illustrations, and another ~ 16”w x 20”h, Silverpoint Studies after Appian, and Tansey.
Dr. Forrest’s Statement: At the Society of Illustrators I completed my urban anthropo-social interview project, Beyond Eden: The Other Lives of Fine Arts Models and the Meaning of Medical Disrobing, illustrated with my watercolor sketches of them. I interviewed 30 female and 5 male models in depth and compiled their questionnaires to understand them and their ancient profession. I theorize that these skilled models’ positive experience of their uncomfortable and trying occupation suggests they channel being admired and loved when naked as infants, which also applies to our adult patients’ experiences in our physical exams. Copies of the first run of this book, unsellable because of typographical errors but readable, will be given out free to those interested while they last.
Dr. Despommier’s Statement: Science is what I have spent most of my adult life engaged in, but art has always been embedded in my day-to-day life, long before I thought about a career in microbiology and public health. I get pleasure from drawing and painting. More recently, photography has captured my interest. I am fortunate to be a close friend of Robert Demarest, former director of the Bio-communications Department at the medical center. I have learned much over the years from his generosity, sharing with me his philosophy of illustration and art, and for allowing me to observe up close the ways in which he executes a watercolor rendering. I spent many years struggling at the Art Students League in New York, painting in watercolor with Mario Cooper and then Dale Meyers, and participating in numerous art shows under their guidance. I am a member of the Salmagundi Club of New York, and I have a web site dedicated to my photography, www.despommierphotoart.com. I am still asked occasionally to lecture at various scientific meetings, and preparing PowerPoints is another way for me to engage in the art of simplifying and expressing complex concepts and ideas.
Dina’s Statement: I originally trained to be a photojournalist, but ended up focusing my career to performing a wide array of techniques in scientific photography. Whether it is a medical photograph intended to diagnose a case or a micrograph to analyze a biochemical process, I find it truly fascinating to be able to document these intricate processes and unveil the invisible to a general audience. One can assume that the act of photographing is easy, since all it generally takes is directing the camera at the intended subject and clicking the shutter button. However, it is imperative within scientific photography that one has knowledge of the subject in question so that s/he can then mindfully apply it to capture the most representative view in trying to create that successful piece. With these select pieces and the rest of my photography, my ultimate goal is to portray the chimeric blend of science and art throughout my endeavors.
Divya’s Statement: Logic has always been my standing ground, my compass guiding me. Rationale always led me to the right answers. A few years ago though, I had the rug pulled beneath me and my logical world dissolved into a fog of confusion. Nothing made sense, and in that abyss, art was the only light. Art was the only source of beauty, strength, and happiness in a cold reality. My impulse was to paint, and I have been painting ever since.
Francesca’s Statement: I started as a surrealist, but fell into portrait painting, which offered more of a living, and wasn’t dependent on fashion, but I still do my surrealist work, waiting for it to become “in style”
Grace’s Statement: By day, a health promotion coordinator. By night, an adventure enthusiast with a compulsion for the creative arts. Currently a New Yorker but originally a Californian, Graces loves exploration, culture, public health and social good. Grace graduated with a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University, with a certificate in Health Promotion Research & Practice. She has a special interest in communication, program management, and graphic design for mission-driven organizations.
Helene’s Statement: I am a sculptor mainly working with steel tubing. I started out as a dancer and many of my sculptures are built around my own body. These body enclosures can also be entered into by the viewer. My newest work incorporates natural material that I find on my many long hikes in the woods. I received an MFA in sculpture from Columbia University School of the Arts and a Certificate in Advanced Studies from St. Martin’s School of Arts in London, England. In 1985 I received a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent time in Japan studying traditional Japanese arts. Other awards include a National Endowment Fellowship, the Betty Brazil Memorial, and awarded the Brio Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2002 I was received the New York City Masterwork award for Public Art for the MTA Yankee Stadium Subway Station Project (in collaboration with Vito Acconci).
Ikuko’s Statement: I studied at Art Students League and fascinated by the abstract painting. I love any type of art but especially, I’m obsessed by colors.
Irina’s Statement: As a scientist curiosity is part of my nature. In addition to natural and social science, I have a love for painting and drawing. My inspiration includes the great artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Katsushika Hokusai, Edvard Munch, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Cezanne. Their use of form, style, color, placement, process, method, beauty, and imagination are pure genius. For example, the medical drawings and illustrations of Leonardo da Vinci to Grey’s Anatomy by Henry Grey all the way to Reductionism in Art and Brain Science of the Nobel Prize-winner Eric Kandel goes hand in hand with art.
Let a Little Mystery In by Jason Joyce
Jason’s Statement: Thank you for taking the time to view my work! Regularly reading poetry helps sharpen our focus and critical skills, which have become necessary skills in our current age of distraction… Many of my @savageconffeti pieces are propelled forward by the growing rift I have with the bad habits mobile technology brings upon us (we bring upon ourselves). Fueling this feeling is my continued attention on the lack of pleasure reading I see my fellow post-grad, millennials partaking in. The visual pieces I create merge once un-associated images and words to springboard readers into a stumbled upon experience. These tiny stories are meant to tease creative writing in the visual arts arena, which is a setting where I can currently, most effectively, reach millennial, and younger, audiences with daily, thought-provoking morsels.
Dr. Meltzer’s Statement: I have been painting seriously since 1973, mostly on summer vacations. I am self-taught and found that without any formal teaching (except for one month of a masters art class at Southampton in 2005) I somehow got better year after year. My secret was never to spend too much time on any single work once I got in on the canvas. I was fortunate to find that the painting shaped itself quickly in my mind and was usually sketched in lightly with turpentine in the first 30 minutes. I finally got a studio of my own in 1995 in a house I built in Water Mill on the South Fork on the edge of bicentennial farms. Most of my stuff is “plein aire.” For many years, 1973 to 2008, my gallery was my doctor’s office.
Sgt. Joseph Statement: I have always aspired to create art, an alumni of the HS of Art and Design, US Marine Corp, Combat Veteran of the Vietnam War, Retiree, Homicide Squad of the NYC Police Department and 12 year Board member of the Art Students League of NY, where I studied fine art painting for over 6 years. I am currently in my 5th year with Columbia University and feel very fortunate to be in the company of a vibrant and enthusiastic community of scholars that are clearly an inspiration and affirmation for humanity and our great country. I enjoy painting for private commissions, painting “Plien Air” outdoors with friends and students seeking artistic development. I also enjoy occasional exhibitions and sale to private collectors. I live in Rockland County, NY with my lovely wife of 25 years.
Upheaval by Joshua Marr, M.D.
Dr. Marr’s Statement: This piece was created as part of an independent art elective in June 2013. Each piece is hand sawn from a number of different species of wood veneer. The figure represents an actual patient encounter in the Emergency Department who had arrived with a herpes zoster infection and resulted in her being newly diagnosed with HIV. She serves as a reminder that many of our encounters with patients, while possibly routine to us, maybe pivot points in a patient’s life, often shaping them in ways we cannot foresee.
The Moments in Between by Kendall M. Sarson
Kendall's Statement: In the fall of this year, I will begin my medical study at P&S in the class of 2022, following two years of post-baccalaureate study at Columbia. As an undergrad, I majored in art with a concentration in painting (particularly oil) and fulfilled a minor in biology in hopes of pursuing medical illustration, which I found at the time to be the perfect meshing of my two seemingly disparate interests. I have discovered over the interceding years that the two, art and science, are actually so inextricably bound that by studying one you must intimately know the other. This poetry of life and its representation has guided both my art and my academic pursuits, and I believe will continue to guide me for many years to come as a physician.
Dr. Johnson’s Statement: I began painting during internship at Harlem Hospital looking for a way to “escape” the stresses of caring for sick patients at a city hospital. I continued to take studio art courses during my training in Medicine and Cardiology and as young attending I gravitated towards watercolor as a medium of choice largely because it is easier to do without dedicated studio space- more portable, less messy, and without noxious odors, but also because I was attracted to the transparency of watercolors and to the process of “building” the picture in layers.
I find myself “framing” in my mind landscapes and subjects I encounter and the camera allows me to preserve these images. With limited patience and technical talent, the digital camera allows me to easily take photos which I import into Photoshop, use to paint from, make seasonal calendars, and occasionally consider good enough to print and frame.
Peacemaker by Minjung Song
Valerie with Buff by Mira Han, CCRN
Mira's Statement: As an amateur painter, a large part of my life has been involved in searching for inspiration that I find everywhere in my daily life. Those are things that stimulate me constantly to get back to the canvas. I love these moments and enjoy expressing them. Many artist’s paintings and their individual lives have inspired me in my work, but I am still practicing and struggling to sharpen my ability to see the right color and value. I am building forms about their perception under different lighting conditions. I would like to thank my father who took me to an art studio when I was a middle school girl and my husband Dale who is holding me and always encouraging me when I get tired. I would also like to thank my colleagues, my friends who love my work and who give me great feedback.
How I See This World by Mirela N. Trofin
Mirela's Statement: I use art (painting, photography) and writing poems, to balance my day to day life. For me, an out of balance brain leads to an out of balance life. I seek equilibrium.
Reflection II by Pamela Koehler
Pamela's Statement: Pamela Koehler is an artist who works in a variety of media, including egg tempera, fiber, metals and clay. She is a museum educator, and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Art and Art history at Adelphi University. Her recent work explores the world in and around the Hudson Valley. This painting is from a group of works that explore both the natural and built environment.
Bridecycle by Pan Su “Peter” Kim
Peter's Statement: As a lifelong STEM enthusiast, I spent my early days fiddling with my family's camera as a means of collecting data. Each jpg I captured was documentary -- a data point along a timeline. As my skills progressed, I realized that photography, much like the field of medicine, is an art of telling narratives. I now try not to take photos, but rather, to make them through deliberate choices in composition and lighting. Learning how to see the world through the lens has changed the way I see without it.
Into the Folds by Purvi Patel
Purvi's Statement: There are many ways to approach art-making with clay. My artwork here is characterized by experimental abstraction using clay as the medium. Clay is highly versatile medium and to be able to manipulate it into fabric like folds is something I enjoyed. It presents many surprises and challenges within the technique. I try and embrace my relationship with the material and allow the clay to speak more freely and to surrender to rather than control the process. I enjoy incorporating human forms into my work. The difference in the way a face can be configured, to me, is like drawing a robust model, filled with curves, angles and fantastic shapes.
Randy’s Statement: The arts have always had an impact on my life and provided me with creative inspiration and an outlet for my creativity. My passion for art began when I was a child growing up in rural Nebraska. I was always doodling with a pencil and paper. Eventually I started drawing my favorite comic book character, Superman, and other super heroes. I knew then that creativity was a part of my soul. My interest in art continued to flourish throughout grade school and high school. By the time I entered college I knew my studies would focus on art. After moving to New York City, I spent many years in the banking profession. My creativity took on several forms as I implemented various innovations and learned to manage people and projects. Even during my long career in business, I found ways to pursue my artistic side through projects that ranged from designing a logo for a dance company to illustrating a book of cartoons about the adult experience of wearing braces. My art remains a reflection of the adventures in my life and an expression of my soul’s journey.
Saima’s Statement: An art teacher in high school once told me, “Art is nature’s child.” I believe that.
Vibes by Samantha Merwin
Samantha's Statement: Though I am grateful for the invention of photography for many reasons, I often wish I could have been a scientist a few centuries back when I would have had to draw all specimens by hand; all of the sketches in the margins of my lab notebook would have been scientifically relevant and not just doodles. I’ve always loved the artwork of scientists, especially the natural history drawings of Charles Darwin and the neuroscience ones of Santiago Ramón y Cajal.
Heart, Mind, and Soul by Samia Z. Kemal
Coral Relief by Samia Z. Kemal
Samia's Statement: Drawing has been my escape since I was a child. When I was young I wanted to be an animator and bring my imaginary characters to life. Today, I flex my drawing skills by creating works using pen and ink on canvas. I am more interested in the crosshatch, sketch-look inspired by some of my favorite street artists – particularly with anatomical body parts. So far, my art has been featured in college campus galleries, but I’d like to work on a greater scale. I try to bring the same sense of imagination to my public health studies. Art and may well be the gateway to necessary innovation in the field.