From Embroidered Hemoglobin to Mosaic Hurricanes, a Wealth of Talent on Display at Art Days 2023
Keith Tornheim, PhD, an associate professor of biochemistry, was not surprised by the creative output he’s seen as Art Days faculty advisor for the past 20 years. If anything, he thinks it underrepresents the number of artists on the medical campus.
“The medical field, the health field, they have this other side, this creative side, in abundance,” he said. In its 33rd year, Art Days is a two-day celebration and Tornheim estimated more than 100 artworks created by approximately Medical Campus 50 students, faculty and staff were on display in Hiebert Lounge Feb. 21-22.
Some were drawn directly from work and study: the snake-like intertwining of embroidered hemoglobin; the glass and polyvinyl installation that resembled blood platelets draped over an IV line and bag; a photograph of vegetables and fruits assembled as an exposed ribcage and heart. Others were fanciful: a celestial migration of whales; Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” over BU’s new data sciences building.
Bhavana Ganduri, a physician trained in India and a graduate student at the School of Public Health, was overcome with admiration for a painting of three dancers by Ashley Davidoff, MD, a clinical professor of radiology.
“It’s beautiful,” said Ganduri, of the Davidoff painting, an explosion of pink resembling the windblown petals of a chrysanthemum.
“These people are already great at their jobs, but I came to see how good they are at art, and Wow!,” she said. “I don’t know if artwork makes a person more complete, but I think it makes them more interesting.”
Second-year dental student Nathan Faynzilbergim came to the show, in part, to see the work of friends and found fellow dental student Han Chaoshi’s intricate miniature sculptures of a pair of fantasy creatures fit his personality and professional choice.
“You can just see the immaculate detail he put into them, the steady hand it takes, and it makes sense he is in dental school,” said Faynzilbergim.
LaKedra Pam, MD, likes to focus on things other people overlook, “or maybe don’t necessarily think are the prettiest, and make them look awesome.” An assistant professor in obstetrics and gynecology, Pam said it’s architectural details that grab her, like the lines of a building rising into clouds and an impossibly blue sky in one of her two photos mounted on woodblocks at the show.
“I think creative thinking is a big part of obstetrics,” she said. “And so, anything you do that engages another part of your brain helps.”
If you’ve got that creative side, it’s best to let it out, said Kristen Segars, a fourth-year MD/PhD candidate.
“You can try not to do creative things, try not to focus on art, but in the end, you’ll always find yourself doodling in your notebook,” said Segars, standing in front of the polychromatic dress she knit for the event. Art, she said, is a de-stressor.
“It kind of keeps everything in perspective,” Segars said, “Especially when there’s so much emphasis on the grind and always working.”
Her whirling mosaic maelstrom of jagged tiles arose from a time of emotional turmoil, and a love of meteorology, said second-year medical student Alexis Fearing.
“Art is a source of inspiration and it’s important to seek out sources of inspiration because that’s how we have growth, how we make changes,” she said.
