anatomy
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Photographs: Ragnar Schmuck
Illustrator and paper artist Katrin Rodegast fused human anatomy and city maps in her editorial work for Globe, the magazine of ETH Zurich, a Swiss science, technology, engineering and mathematics university. Rodegast rolled, coiled, cut, and scored colorful maps to form a heart, brain, lungs, spine, and knee joint. Curving highways and waterways seem to mimic the intricate network of capillaries that surround our organs, while also highlighting the innovation that arises from different systems and organizations working together.
The anatomical creations were made to showcase “Zurich Heart,” a flagship project involving nearly 20 research groups, which aims to develop a fully implantable artificial heart. Rodegast works with a wide variety of brands with a focus on magazine covers and editorials, often in the realm of health and science. You can see more of the Berlin-based artist’s paper illustrations on Instagram and Behance.
“Venus Fly Womb”, all photos courtesy of Sarah Leonard
Manchester-based artist Sarah Leonard reimagines female reproductive systems with shimmering sequins and sparkling beadwork. Her embroidery pieces, which she creates under the name Atypical Stitch, are formed on hoops holding bamboo viscose, and they incorporate embellishments and visual puns including moon cycles, venus fly traps, and hourglasses. Leonard shares with Colossal:
Many of my followers and customers find the uterus designs empowering, particularly in a time where female reproductive rights and healthcare are under threat. However, I also try to create pieces which comment on the negative connotations of the uterus symbol—for example the overwhelming pressure that many women feel as a result of society’s expectation for women to be mothers.
The artist began her embroidery practice during the final year of her PhD program as a well-being activity that helped her relax and turn her focus away from her studies. Leonard’ works full-time as a research associate in the field of forensic psychiatry, but she continues to make time for her creative practice. Leonard shares her work on Instagram, where you can also contact her for commissions. In addition to her anatomically-themed pieces, Leonard also recently started “Atypical Kids” for wall decor and wearable designs that appeal to children. (via Juxtapoz)
“Mushromaries”
“Heartaries”
“Angry Foof”
“Peepers”
“Moon Cycle”
“Flowvaries”
“Period of Time”
“Lotusaries”
Caitlin McCormack (previously here and here) integrates mediums such as cotton string, vintage fabric, beaded objects, and other found materials into small crocheted skeletons. The textile works are presented as preserved objects like one might find in a curio cabinet. McCormack draws a connection between her skeletal subject matter and the viewer’s interiority, using fitted glass boxes and wooden frames as protection from the exterior world. Her fourth solo exhibition at Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia, See You All in There, opens on February 22 and runs through April 13, 2019. You can see more of the artist’s work on her website and Instagram.
Jim F. Faure, who goes by Jim Skull, introduces his decades-long practice with his pseudonym. The Paris-based sculptor focuses exclusively on human skulls. Using innumerable strands of colorful thread, Murano glass beads, rope, and even porcupine quills, Faure creates an entirely new “skin” for the skeletal forms. Each skull’s covering also trails off into dramatic cascades that shape-shift depending on how the skull is displayed.
Faure transforms the surface of an object that often strikes fear into a visually enticing decorative object, inviting the viewer to study the divots and contours of our shared anatomical structure. In an artist statement, the sculptor cites his upbringing in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, followed by wide-ranging international travels in New Zealand, India, and Hong Kong as informing his fascination with the ritual and cultural aspects of the human experience. You can see more of Faure’s work on his website.
Bologna-based Italian artist Nunzio Paci (previously) fills his artwork with images that evoke aspects of human knowledge dating back centuries, such as anatomy, botany, and natural medicine. In his works animals are illustrated with lush plants and flowers, elements which seem to grow and thrive straight from their core. Although a touch morbid, the pieces also have a sense of lightness—there is beauty that can be found in rebirth. This fall Paci will be Artist-in-Residence at Lingnan University in Hong Kong where he will teach a Studio Practice course and work on his own projects to prepare for a solo exhibition. You can see more of his anatomical illustrations and paintings on Instagram and Facebook.
“Anatomic” by paper artist Andy Singleton (previously) is an intricate journey through the body’s interior systems. For the work, the artist used three different hues of paper—bright red, burgundy, and powder blue—to distinguish the elaborate structural networks that are formed from its arteries and veins, kidneys, lungs, and heart. Although each individual piece of paper is two-dimensional, the suspended work is composed of scored and shaped segments that suggest volume and more lifelike appearance. “Anatomic” was displayed in 2015 as part of a three-person popup show, Nude Not Naked, with Richard Sweeney (previously) and Richard Wheater at Hawkeye Crates in Brooklyn, New York. You can see more of Singleton’s finished and in-progress work on Instagram.
In 2009, Psychiatrist Dr. Karen Norberg from the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts decided to create a fibrous doppelgänger of the human brain. Using different colored yarns she knit together the two-sided organ one and a half times its normal size, with a cerebellum and spinal cord attached at the end. Dr. Norberg told the Telegraph that the piece was a labor of love. For me, there were two humorous aspects,” she explained. “One was simply to undertake such a ridiculously complex, time consuming project for no practical reason. The second was the idea of making a somewhat mysterious and difficult object – a brain – out of a ‘cuddly,’ cheerful, familiar material like cotton yarn.”
Dr. Norberg created the individual parts of the brain, such as the brainstem and amygdala, before sewing the lightly colored pieces together in its final form. A comparison of the textile sculpture alongside scans from a real human brain can be seen in the image below. (via Women’s Art)
