The Science in the Art

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artscience

It has been a while since last time I wrote in my blog. It has been a great journey so far this semester teaching Inquiry at Quinnipiac University, the academic advising experiment, the sculpting and painting parties, the workshops and talks on Business Needs Assessment with an Inquiry Approach, the show that just ended at Spectrum Gallery, the sculpting demo I had there back in March, the sculpting workshop at Columbus School through ARTE Inc., the computer classes at the now Literacy Volunteers of Southern Connecticut, and a new partnership unfolding that gets me closer to understand my mission and the reason I do what I do… Well, that was a long sentence… Things are wrapping up as we are about a month away to finish the semester. The summer (if we get one this year in New England) is already promising good things. I think that brings us up-to-date in everything that is happening.

The Science in the Art

My students were working in groups to get feedback from each other as they prepared for their oral presentations. This is one way research in peer tutoring learning environments supports practice and practice supports research. In the process, one student was trying to find a connection between health sciences, specifically medicine, and art. To serve as an example that helped make the connection clear and concrete we have the Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. Frank H. Netter M.D. was a surgeon and world’s most prolific medical illustrator. He helped medicine understand the human body with his illustrations. Interestingly, when people study medicine they call it medical arts. Not finding the connection yet? Let me help you understand. All the knowledge in science, or in any field, is incomplete without the capacity to think creatively to solve specific issues or to accurately come up with a diagnosis.

10897129_10150521204179956_2246822379688977574_n-2Creativity is the use of imagination of creative ideas. To transform that idea into a visual interpretation is just part of the “art” in anything. This might not be a strong argument for some but that is something to discuss with a guy who was smarter than me and many of us: Albert Einstein. He understood that “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. He also said that “to raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science”, and “logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you anywhere”. The art in science is often hard to connect if we don’t think beyond our day-to-day thinking. Equally hard is to understand the science in the art.

IMG_5613.JPGOne question I get a lot is: “How do your wife feels with you drawing and sculpting only women?”. No one asks how do I feel about my wife doing physical exams to random people. She is a physician and a very good one. The best I know. We see the human body in similar ways in the connection between art and science, as well as science and art. Understanding how the body interacts with itself and the environment, and how to represent these interactions visually through drawing of sculpting is both an art and a science. The curiosity that brings research to life and engages the scientific mind in seeking understanding is no different from the curiosity that pushes the figure artist to understand the human body.

Those Drawings

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I’ve been drawing the last few days a little more. Drawing always takes me back to the college years when I walked around with my sketchbook just like Jack Dawson, the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. Those drawings also looked very similar. Drawing was a daily activity at any given chance. I don’t think I developed a classical drawing technique but I always had fun.

It is always interesting to see people’s reactions. The reaction to those drawings is still the same today after 20 years. I wish I knew back then about attribution theory, although I think I asked the right questions to their curious and judgmental questions about the nude figure. People ask why are the drawings nude and why I don’t draw clothes on them. My answer is that I’m a figure artist and not a fashion designer. I wonder if people ask OB-GYN physicians to change their specialty to something less intrusive.

People assume that because the drawing is a nude figure it is something impure, dirty, or sexual. This is not surprising in a society that measures the value of a human being based on their sexuality and not in the intrinsic value as a person. The figure is just visually interesting. The human body is a beautiful thing. No, I don’t see people naked when I walk around. I don’t have x-ray vision. I guess, and attribution theory comes to play again, that people see the way they see because of who they are. People will produce and interpret things based on their condition. However, the intentions of the heart are exposed to One and I am not the One to judge or justify.

The Female Figure

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WaterfallIt is no mystery that my work is inspired by the human figure. I believe that the human experience is understood by humans. We understand nature by the relationship we have with nature. Our interpretations of everything surrounding us and beyond in based on a human perspective and it has been like this since humans existed. People ask if I sculpt anything else or paint anything else. I could but nothing inspires me like the human figure. One question that I get often is: ‘Why do you concentrate your work more in the female figure?’

I prefer the female figure because I find in the female figure the power to portray strength and sensibility at the same time. The softness of the lines also inspires me. The lines of the female figure go well with the organic shapes of nature and the whiplash of art nouveau which is my most influential style before I knew what it was. Through the female figure I can explore emotions that are a deep part of who we are but freely expressed by women. The physical aspects are also interesting to me. The female figure is beautiful.

Lady Fixing Her HairDetails of the female body posses a special kind of visual interest. The expression of the eyes, the hair, the muscles of the back, the foldings of the skin when the torso twists, and so on. On the other hand, I avoid parts of the body that are not visually attractive to me. As I say, I’m not that kind of doctor. Nevertheless,  it is possible to read the mood of a woman by how she carries her body without a need to look at the face. The body tells about her insecurities even when hidden by attitudes that try to portray otherwise. The opposite is also true. One can tell a woman is secure and comfortable in her own skin by how she conducts herself.

The emotional aspect of art is often better understood by women. I can only speak from my experience. I am not saying that men can’t appreciate the messages my art intends to communicate, but women find a deeper connection with my art. Men are mostly interested in the commercial value. Again, that is just my experience.

Painting With No Meaning

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Blue Roses

Blue Roses

“What does it mean?” That is probably one of the top ten questions people ask when they look at a painting. Certainly not all paintings must have ‘a meaning’. Some paintings are to be felt, others are interpretations of nature, and others are just a way for the artist to deliver a technique for personal amusement and practice. Painting with no meaning is very satisfying indeed.  All you want to do is to enjoy the process. If someone else finds meaning to it and likes it is a plus.

In my last studio days of 2014 I did just that: painting to explore a technique and have fun. I am a sculptor and prefer sculpting much more than painting. However, I enjoy painting from time to time. I approach painting the way I approach sculpting. I begin with the pose. I work on basic shapes and then work smaller areas until I ‘build’ the figure. I am not looking for meaning or some intellectual and spiritual awakening. I just study the figure. I try to understand the intricacies of the muscles and their reaction to movement. It is delightful to observe how muscles expand, stretch, and contract. You can feel it in your own body.

blue roses process

The process begins by tracing that pose I want to explore. I trace just the lines with paint. I love lines. I apply some shading as a guide. ‘Filling’ the figure with color helps provides a foundation on which I will shade and form the muscles. For me is very important to follow the fiber of the muscle with my brushstrokes. It provides a sense of volume. It also helps to accurately shape the anatomy. Before I work on the details of the anatomy I try to surround the figure with color as in providing a setting (which is generally empty space for me but it provides visual sense). The surrounding colors also help me decide the colors for shading the figure.

selfie with blue rosesDetailing the muscles is very challenging but so much fun. I work one small area at a time and connect the muscles until the figure is complete. Hair comes after. To add a little something to the composition I added flowers this time. I was going in different directions with the flowers once I added the blue roses (which were originally purple) close to the head. First, and that was the original idea, I wanted to create a ‘u’ shaped frame of flowers and vines on the bottom half of the canvas. It was too much for me. The next idea was to just add a few flowers closing the figure at the bottom. I was not feeling it either, so I left it like that with just three blue roses. The rest is about cleaning up the details. After about 12 hours I was very satisfied with the result.

Studying the Figure

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Figure Study Collage

Figure Study Collage

My interest for studying the human figure began back in high school. I saw the work of Boris Vallejo and it caused a great impression on me. Even before I decided to pursue a BA in Fine Arts I began drawing the figure. My style and use of the line began developing as my interest for understanding the intricacies of the human body.

Working with live models in college opened a new vision of the nude figure. As year passed I continue the process of understanding the connection between how we see the human body and our spiritual nature. The first clay nude sculpture ever created was made by God in the garden of Eden when He created the first man. Being able to sculpt the human figure is for me like partaking in the experience of creation with God.

Interestingly, it was the fall of men that changed our vision of the body and so it began:

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Studying the figure also gives the opportunity to study human behavior. The way we look at the naked body is an indication of a spiritual condition deeper than skin. Each perspective is possibly an indication of a distorted truth, a life changing experience, scars and issues of the past. I don’t pretend to justify my art and how I represent the body in my work. Nevertheless, I hope that your encounter with my work helps you consider your own condition. “Where are you?”