UVM Cancer Center SciArt Gallery
The following paintings were created by undergraduate students in Professor Pamela Fraser’s Public Painting Projects course, and inspired by the research and clinical care of the UVM Cancer Center. Photos of paintings by Andy Duback
Lucas Austin, Blue Inside
This painting draws inspiration from SDS-PAGE, a laboratory technique used to separate proteins by size. The vertical streaks and branching forms echo the movement of proteins through a gel, where molecular structures become visible as delicate, expanding patterns. The controlled diffusion of pigment mirrors the way proteins migrate, creating an interplay between scientific precision and organic unpredictability. By translating laboratory imagery into an abstract visual language, Lucas transforms a technical process into something more fluid, expressive, and open to interpretation. The use of blue, a color commonly associated with protein stains like Coomassie brilliant blue, reinforces the connection to scientific analysis while also evoking a sense of calm and introspection. Through this work, Lucas explores the intersection of science and art, finding beauty in the unseen mechanisms that shape our understanding of biology. The painting invites viewers to consider the elegance of laboratory processes while also softening rigid scientific data into an expressive visual field. It offers a reflection on the hidden systems that define life at a molecular level.
Lucas Austin, Blurred Vision
This painting is inspired by microscopic imagery of a HeLa cell undergoing mitosis, specifically the spindle fibers that orchestrate cell division. The reference image, captured by graduate student Sarah Catherine Paschall, highlights tubulin structures in white and DNA in blue—elements that guide the replication of genetic material. In blurred vision, these cellular dynamics are reimagined through layered colors and flowing forms, merging the precision of cell biology with a more ethereal, introspective quality. The composition is dominated by deep blues and greens, which evoke the fluorescence of stained biological samples while creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The soft diffusion of color suggests movement and transformation, mirroring the dynamic nature of mitosis itself. The spindle-like forms, rendered in glowing tones, reference the tension and organization within a dividing cell, while their diffused edges emphasize the fluid, ever-changing nature of life at a microscopic scale. By translating a scientific image into an abstract composition, Lucas invites the viewer to consider the complexity and beauty of cellular processes that are constantly occurring yet remain unseen. Blurred vision reflects on the hidden mechanisms of life, revealing a world that exists beyond the limits of human perception.
Iris Carpenter, Ocean Path
Ocean Path was inspired by a microscopic image of a collection of cells, provided by Jason Stumpff, PhD, and taken by former graduate student Leslie Sepaniac, PhD. The image depicts cells in deep shades of green and blue, brightly lit around the edges, and captured in what seems to be a moment of flowing motion. The darkness behind the cells allows them to stand out to the viewer, making them pop throughout the picture. The cells appeared to be layered on top of each other, with some fading into the dark background and others much brighter, standing out amongst the rest. Ocean Path maintains the sense of fluid motion that the image produces, both with the swirling background of light green brush strokes, as well as with the intersecting paths of ombre cells. Although the cells are what create most of the movement in the microscopic capture, the painting focuses more on the perception of motion in the background. The bold light green swirls against the dark green base highlights the background of the painting in a way that is not featured in the reference photo. With this greater focus on the background, the artist chose to depict fewer cells, focusing more on the individual paths and intersecting natures of the cell groupings. Ocean Path maintains the blue and green color palette from the microscopic image; however, it uses lighter shades of both colors, creating a stark contrast throughout the painting, even within the background. Although most of the cells in the original photo are brightly lit, many of the darker blue cells in the painting fade into the dark green background, making it hard to differentiate between the individual cells.
Iris Carpenter, Sisters
Sisters was inspired by a microscopic image of microscope fields of view, side by side, appearing somewhat similar, but each maintaining their own identity. The photo was taken by Prachi Ghule, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont. The entirety of the image is made up of deep blues and purples, some of which blend into each other, making it hard to differentiate between the individual shapes. Although much of the photo is relatively dark, there are bright pops of pink and teal, maintained throughout Sisters. One of the fields of view in the image is made up of much more deep blue background and many more dark purple shapes, while the other contains more of the bright pink areas, attracting the viewers eye to that side of the image. This asymmetrical aspect is preserved in the painting, emphasized with one of the fields of view being much more visible than the other. The painting imposes a higher contrast by keeping the background extremely dark but making the cells much lighter than the image from the microscope. Additionally, aspects of another microscopic image were integrated into the background of Sisters, this one taken by Sarah Catherine Paschall, a doctoral student at the University of Vermont. The second reference photo depicts abstract shapes, all of which intertwine with each other. The image seems to have been captured in a moment of motion, with the neon green streaks evoking this energy. These abstract forms are included in the background of the painting, becoming dense while opposite from the larger field of view, balancing out the asymmetrical nature of the two fields. The formations interwoven into the background also connect the background to the inside of the field of view, appearing similar in profile and size to many of the shapes in the larger circles.
Sami Chaves, Population
Sami Chaves’ paintings draw inspiration from a microscopic photograph captured by cancer research graduate student Sarah Catherine Paschall at the University of Vermont’s Cancer Center. The image features Neuro-2a Neuroblastoma cells transformed into neurons, with Tubulin dyed green, DNA dyed blue, and Mitochondria dyed red through fluorescent staining techniques. This vibrant palette highlights cellular structures against a black background, serving as the foundation for Chaves’ artistic interpretation.
Chaves aimed to faithfully replicate the scientific image, blending art and science to honor the researchers’ work. Her paintings emphasize the intricate beauty of biological structures while making complex cancer research accessible to broader audiences. The luminous quality of her work mirrors the dynamic nature of cellular processes, using color and movement to convey the urgency and vibrancy of cancer research.
By translating scientific imagery into art, Chaves bridges the gap between discovery and creativity. Her paintings serve as both an artistic exploration and a tribute to groundbreaking research, inviting viewers to appreciate the unseen beauty within science and recognize the dedication of researchers striving for medical advancements. This intersection of art and science offers a fresh perspective on the profound complexity of life at its smallest scale.
Sami Chaves, Orb
This striking painting features a neon yellow sphere against a black background, with vivid green organic shapes swirling around its edges. The sphere's color transitions from near white at its center to darkness at the edges, creating an ethereal, radiant quality. Swirling brushstrokes within the circle intensify the vortex-like effect.
The composition invites multiple interpretations, spanning microscopic and cosmic scales. It recalls cellular imagery, reminiscent of cancer researchers examining stained biological structures under a microscope. The green tendrils suggest dye dispersing in liquid or cellular components in motion. Celestially, the radiant circle against the void evokes the sun, with the green elements suggesting solar flares or magnetic fields. This interplay of light and shadow encourages contemplation of energy, transformation, and balance.
The painting bridges scientific and artistic inquiry, highlighting how both rely on observation and interpretation. It challenges the boundary between the seen and unseen, offering a meditation on the mysteries of the natural world and our place within it.
Ella Dearden, Cunniff’s Cells
This painting by Ella Dearden is based on an image taken by Assistant Professor Brian Cunniff of cancer cells under a microscope. In the image, components of the cell were imaged separately, each in a different color, and then overlaid to reveal the complete structure. This layering technique was what initially caught the artist’s attention —the way the blues, greens, and reds blended together in a manner reminiscent of a painting. Dearden was especially interested in how a microscope, something designed to reveal natural facts, was able to produce an image that felt so energetic. Despite being a scientific image, it has an element of abstraction, appearing more like something imagined rather than something real. Dearden sought to capture that same obscurity of subject in her painting, maintaining the structure of the original image while emphasizing the blend of colors; the artist was guided by the fluidity with which the colors interacted with one another.
As a biologist herself, Dearden often explores the unexpected cohesion between science and art —between fact and imagination. Microscopes are designed to capture reality with precision, yet the images they produce often feel surreal. This piece also reflects on how so much of what people see, even in science, depends considerably on their interpretation. The original image is not just data; it is something visual: the cell’s image tells a story to the scientist who captured it. This mix of logic and intuition is a recurring theme in Dearden’s studies of both science and art.
Ella Dearden, Dividing Chondrocyte
This painting by Ella Dearden is based on a microscopic image taken by UVM graduate student Amila Šemić of chondrocytes, the cells responsible for bone formation, with one undergoing cellular division. Dearden was inspired by the luminescent red-orange microtubules that stretched diagonally across the image, which reminded her of muscle fibers pulling taut to maintain the structure of the tissue. To emphasize a feeling of structural tension, she exaggerated the connectivity of the red-orange microtubules and allowed them to extend across the entire canvas.
A key aspect of the microscopic image is its sense of space: it feels both precise and limitless. Dearden's painting explores this duality, revealing the details of something unimaginably small while also suggesting its complex role within a much larger biological system. The microtubules and chondrocytes stretch beyond the canvas edges, making the image feel like a snapshot of a much larger structure. The layering of forms depth-wise also adds to this feeling, which the artist aimed to capture with her use of glazing technique to build each layer one by one, creating a sense of transparency that conveyed depth.
Dearden was also intrigued by the variety of colors composing the round chondrocytes. In the original image, they shimmer with blues, purples, and yellows; their tiny details are so bright they almost sparkle. To reflect this, she painted scattered white and yellow dots to recreate their energetic texture, then used a glazing technique to layer color overtop, enhancing their glow. The contrast between the cool-toned cells and the warm spindles and negative space enhances the overall energetic feeling of this piece.
Cora Egan, Untitled
This is the first painting in the second series of Cora Eagan’s SciArt series. The inspiration for the painting came from the collection of images given to the class by the University of Vermont Cancer Center. Specifically, there was an image from Alan Howe, PhD, that was used as a reference and helped while the painting was in progress. This image depicts a black background but is filled with many lines that are different colors and form a type of pattern moving toward the center of the image. The short lines are many different colors running into each other. The painting Untitled started by taking soft colors of blue, pink, purple, and yellow and creating a sky-like background where all the colors are running into each other. After that was complete, there was the creation of the circular flowing shapes that resemble the first two paintings from the SciArt series. These were created on opposite sides of the canvas in blue and pink, but the shapes look as if they’re trying to reach out and touch each other. These shapes are supposed to symbolize cells, like in the first two paintings. Once these were complete, the small, short lines were put onto the canvas. These were created from the inspiration of Alan Howe's images. They were laid down in blue and pink and then painted over with a light yellow, creating some dimension. These were then surrounded by light yellow dots. The Untitled painting with all the intersecting objects and soothing colors is supposed to have a theme of connection and peace.
Cora Egan, Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 20x24,” 2025
This painting is the last in a series of artworks in Cora Egan’s SciArt series. The piece was inspired by photos created by Amila Semic and Prachi Ghule from the University of Vermont Cancer Center. Egan started the piece by using the acrylic paint to make an ombre style background with a deep red and blue. The purpose of this background was to just faintly shine through so that shapes could be laid over top. After creating this effect Cora went in with a large brush to create circular type shapes that took over much of the canvas. These were created in different shades of reds and pinks. Following this, smaller shapes and circles were made to overlap the previous, creating a layering effect. The different shapes were then outlined or highlighted with lighter or warmer shades of reds. Then, even small circles were put in the empty space and overlapped with smaller dots. The piece connects to the previous in the series, using similar shapes and colors. It also holds the same hope to showcase whimsy that emerges from images of cells.
Celia Ryan, Galaxy Cells
This painting was inspired by a microscopic image taken by Brian Cunniff, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Vermont Cancer Center. Cunniff completed his PhD at in Dr. Nicholas Heintz’s Laboratory at the University of Vermont in 2014, followed by a brief postdoc at University of Utah and finally Boston Children’s Hospital as a part of Harvard Medical School. What first caught the artist’s eye was the bright blues and purples. After looking at it further, the artist was immediately intrigued by the red and pink highlights on the darks and lights of the canvas. She found it interesting how the red circles took away the positive and negative spaces yet somehow made the piece a whole. Ryan’s initial idea for the painting was that the image was reminiscent of outer space, and she thought it was beautiful that the colors lit the darkness like galaxies. During her process, the artist came to the realization that an image so microscopic can be so easily compared to space, something that is larger than the mind can comprehend. The greens and pinks dotted throughout the scene reminded her of meteor showers. It is so interesting how a cluster of cancer cells contain a whole universe within them. It made her realize that life and this universe isn’t so black and white, or positive and negative.
Celia Ryan, Micronuclei Pond
This painting was inspired by Jason Stumpff’s image of a field of green and blue mouse liver cells. The artist took inspiration from this photo because of the colors it produced. She has always loved the colors of green and blue together. She finds it fascinating how all of the cancer cell images managed to create the most illuminating and attention-grabbing color schemes. She loved how fun and natural the photograph looked. It reminded her of pees in a pod, or fish eggs at a pond. The artist began her painting with a base layer of dark green. She then began painting squiggly lines of blue and green, getting lighter and lighter with each coat. The artist wanted to have fun with the piece and not focus on precise detail, but to capture the whimsical motion of it as a whole. Ryan waited for each layer of squiggles to dry before adding new, intersecting lines. After she had enough lines down, she then painted over the canvas with a thin and watered down dark green to follow the dark yet bright colors of the original photo. Finally, the artist began on the cells. Each cell followed the squiggly lines, creating a movement to the painting. She started with dark layers and then gradually moved onto lighter layers of green. After the green layer, the artist began painting the blues. After finishing the piece, Ryan added white highlights to the cells to make them pop.
Justine Maraska, Flower Petal Pop
The artist Justine Maraska wanted to capture the beauty found in the natural world, by drawing parallels between the visual imagery of flowers and plants, and cellular imaging. There is complexity in things that may seem simple, such as a bouquet of flowers. Every living thing has a story or growth, resilience, color, emotion, memory, and direction. When we trust in nature, and we trust in science, and we trust in ourselves, magic happens. The body’s capability to heal itself, paired with scientific research, can lead to miracles. Joy can be found everywhere: we can choose to experience that right now and be present in our lives and enjoy the beauty in the everyday.
Justine Maraska, Flower Petal Pop, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16,” 2025 Inspiration was drawn from many science sources.
Justine Maraska, Flower Petal Pop, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16,” 2025 Inspiration was drawn from many science sources.
Justine Maraska, Living Trees
The artist Justine Maraska wanted to bring color and life to the beautiful parallels between art and science. So much in the natural world around us can be seen echoed in scientific research studies, microscopic imaging, and even the limitless vastness of what is yet to be discovered. The vivid colors utilized are intentionally bright to wake up your senses and even evoke a sense of joy and nostalgia. The power of the human body is boundless and breathtaking, and the artist wanted to capture that awe and marvel of all that is yet to be accomplished in the stem field. A sense of hope was also intended to be a theme throughout this piece. The tree-like branches are representative of interconnections within the human brain, as well as the plentiful connection that exist within our communities. There is great beauty and prosperity when we come together for a greater good.
Iris Pelli-Walbert, Source
In this painting, Iris Pelli-Walbert took inspiration from Professor Alan Howes' cell photographs. Howe captured images of stained cells, much of his work showing vivid contrasting colors and the intricate web-like nature of cell life. Pelli-Walbert mirrored these fine lines and bright colors in their painting, conveying the image of the cell and general atmosphere of Howe's initial photograph while adding certain abstract elements. Specifically, Pelli-Walbert played with shapes used, and the colors in the background. They chose to go with a deep purple in the background as opposed to black for a sense of vibrancy and emphasized the bright green that they saw portrayed in some of the photographs. In Source, Pelli-Walbert focused on intense detail and usage of fine line, aiming to capture the tactile feeling evoked from the photographs. Pelli-Walbert focused on choosing a light green and dark purple for most of the piece, with a bright contrasting blue as the focal point. They added fine line detail with a variety of reds, yellows, purples, and greens to add more diversity to the piece. Source is reminiscent of the work of Howe, while maintaining uniqueness through the altered composition and range of colors.
Iris Pelli-Walbert, Grandma's Kitchen, Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24”, 2025 Inspiration was drawn from many science sources.
Iris Pelli-Walbert, Grandma's Kitchen
In this painting, Iris Pelli-Walbert took an abstract approach to a variety of cell images. The color palette is all warm tones and limited to shades of pink, blue, green, and yellow. The piece shows swirling pink and green lines on top of a warm yellow background. The green line emulates nature; it snakes and branches off in several areas while also surrounding the main swirl of the pink line. The pink line similarly branches off, while also moving into the center to hold the smaller blue circle. The pink shades are reminiscent of the human body, emulating tendons or blood vessels to show the beauty of the physical. These colored lines of pink and green intersect only once and then move to embrace the blue oval on the top left together. In unifying these colors, Pelli-Walbert unifies the ideas of the physical and the natural. To keep with the theme of integration, Pelli-Walbert adds blue on the edges of the painting, and in the center as the focal point. The blue is solid in these spaces yet also appears occasionally as ripples on the edges of the pink and green lines. This integrates the diversity of cells internally in our own bodies, and externally in nature. Both living, both cellular. The piece is called Grandma's Kitchen, aiming to convey the warmth, comfort, and nostalgia that a childhood spent in a grandparent’s kitchen conjures. The color palette that Pelli-Walbert chose for her painting is cohesive and warm, adding a sense of unity to the painting and emphasizing the fluidity and universality of cell life.
Adriana Perez (Cancer Living Pyramid Cells)
This painting presents a striking and luminous depiction of three cancer cells that UVM researchers Brian Cunniff, PhD, Alan Howe, PhD, and Amila Šemić captured of cells stacked at the top of one another, their radiant forms pulsating with energy. Each cell is meticulously detailed, with textured membranes that appear almost neon, glowing in vibrant hues of electric blues, greens, and deep magentas. Their intricate inner structures, nuclei, organelles, and delicate cytoplasmic strands are illuminated from within, symbolizing both the mystery and complexity of cancer at the microscopic level. Three cells captured by different researchers are combined in one painting to represent a union of the researchers and their group effort together with a community.
Floating in a dreamlike space, the three cancer cells seem weightless. Their arrangement represents how the disease progresses, the layers of scientific discovery, and the different experiences of those affected by cancer. The background is a mix of deep purple and swirling colors, like a distant galaxy, reminding others that cancer research is an exploration filled with curiosity, innovation, and hope.
The artist's idea was to work on both paintings to show awareness of how complex cancer cells are, how invasive they can be, and how fast they can progress in the body of a human or animal. Cancer cells multiply through division and take over quickly because they ignore body signals to spot dividing like normal cells. They ignore all rules and norms that typical cells would follow. Humanity needs more knowledge and discovery for cancer treatment to diagnose and prevent it.
Adriana Perez, A Lung Cancer Cell
This work is based on an original image taken by Shannon Prior, who worked with a team on researching lung cancer at the University of Vermont Medical Center. The original image was black and white, and it was overwhelming due to the small and complex details that made it difficult to uncover how the infinite number of lines connected.
The complexity of this image forms mystery, with shapes that resemble unknown galaxies. The artist conveys emotions, feelings, and silent messages through black-and-white shapes. Sharp edges of the frame draw attention to the center and give an even more dramatic and emotional look. The central figure in this painting mimics a cell more than in the original image. This connects the art back to the original inspiration of lung cancer cells. The artist was inspired by organelles of the cell, as the shape appears to have a double membrane, the inner membrane being a dark grey and the outer membrane being a bright white. There is also a dark, solid shape, appearing to be the nucleus. Surrounding the nucleus would be the cytoplasm, which is filled with various prints and lines to crowd the inner structures of the cell.
The artist used a deep purple for the base of the painting, which was then used for the background. In addition, she included a dark green top on the sides of the canvas to contrast with the background and add dimension. Even though the original work is black and white, she chose a colorful background that makes the cell glow and draws the attention of the viewers. It looks like a special effect due to the blurriness of the transparent white. This also gives the effect that the cell is in motion, which connects it back to the science behind it, and the idea of the cell cycle.
Tim Searls, landscape
This painting by Tim Searls references the microscopy photographs of human cells taken by assistant professor Brian Cuniff at the UVM Cancer Center. These intricate and brightly colored organic forms are captivating in their simultaneous alienness and familiarity. These are incorporated into a non-literal representation of the Vermont landscape, which is similarly both familiar and not. The combination of these elements emphasizes our connection to the wider world on scales both larger than ourselves and too small to see with the naked eye. It also represents the connection between the research being done at the Cancer Center and the wider community that it serves. By bringing scientific elements into a landscape with which many people identify strongly, the painting aims to help members of the community whom the research serves see themselves in the complex and often inscrutable work being done. The use of the photo reference in the sky of the landscape plays with our sense of scale, as we are accustomed to seeing these cellular forms only through the most powerful of microscopes. Inflating them to a scale where they are a part of a larger non-human landscape disassociates them from our preconceived notions, making them appear perhaps as alien or supernatural forms, or as reminiscent of phenomena like the aurora. The microscopic images are also referenced in the water in the mid-ground of the painting, bringing it an eerie yet lively brightness and energy and tying it to the forms in the sky. The landscape elements are also painted in the somewhat flat and unnaturally bright tones of Cunniff’s photos, making them walk the line between the familiar and absurd.
Tim Searls, lab
This painting by Tim Searls references microscopy photographs taken of human cells, provided by Prachi Ghule, PhD, and taken by Kyra Lee, MS. This photo shows the complexity of the cell and its functions as many intricate organelles are visible interacting with one another. This is mirrored in the painting by the incorporation of laboratory elements. These familiar components of a research setting are tied to the cell image both through the lab’s purpose of cell research and the complex operations performed in each space. Both of these images may feel inorganic and somewhat alien to the viewer, the lab being a stark and emotionally cold environment and the cell appearing as bright organic shapes against a solid black background, like abstract neon signs on a dark night. Despite this, both are inextricably human, the cell naturally as a part of our being and the lab as a place to unveil knowledge about our lives and bodies and to improve our lives. The use of Ghule’s image as a backdrop to the laboratory environment plays with our sense of scale and place, abstracting both the cell and lab. It removes the cellular forms from the microscopic scale where we would expect to find them and places them in a macro-scale space. In this light they take on a surreal quality as a strange but familiar dreamscape. Similarly, it places the lab furniture in the same abstracted setting, violating the assumption that these objects are found in a sterile environment.
Y'vonna Stewart, Cellular Beauties, acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14, 2025 Inspiration was drawn from many science sources.
Y'vonna Stewart, Cellular Beauties
Y'vonna Stewart challenges herself on a journey to familiarize herself with the power (and connection) of paint, color, and life. Stewart uses the artistic advantage of color and their emotional responses. Pastels historically have been known for their calming yet powerful hues. Establishing inspiration from the sentiments of colors, specifically softer pigments, is the foundational step to Stewart's process. Furthermore, utilizing techniques such as scumbling, dry brushing, and pointillism can capture the powerful essence that one cell can hold. Stewart also uses paint knives to study grattage approaches, attracting the viewer within the canvases' foregrounds. The artist considered this prompt a challenge to get well versed or familiarize themselves with the world of both paints and/or health sciences. "I found it was easiest to identify what I interpreted as 'beautiful' while objectively looking face-on at the real examples of dispirit in life. To certain individuals, a diagnosis in itself is an ugly failure, forcing one into a dark corner in what sometimes are their final moments. Through art and color, we rebuke and replace this notion with the thought of something endless and beautiful in mind and sight. It is said, 'Each of us is a universe of our own living cells.'" Pointillism further accentuates both the vibrancy and balance within each of the figure's cellular makeup, whereas paintbrush approaches further enhance the images’ depth. It is empowering to Stewart's artistic journey to be challenged to broaden her artistic choices within media(s) and meaning. While the human body is always changing and the cells within us evolve, through the challenges, the flowers within are always in bloom.
Ellie Tobin, Untitled
In this painting, Ellie Tobin gained inspiration from two different science images. First, one from Nano Creative was found on a science imagery website. The original photograph features a scanning electron micrograph of breast cancer cells, using green and blue tones for the color. Secondly, Tobin found inspiration in a photo provided by Prachi Ghule, PhD, and taken by Kyra Lee, MS, which shows multiplex immunofluorescence staining of breast cancer tissue. In her painting, she began by painting the canvas black and painting the desired cell shape in thinned-out white paint, eventually allowing the vibrant blue, green, and pink colors over top to be seen. By freehanding the cell shapes with the white paint, Tobin was able to explore the natural curves and angles found in scientific cell images. At first, she had only added one large center cell with two connecting branches, but she decided to add a couple more, smaller cells to the canvas as well. Lastly, Tobin began filling in each cell with a teal blue color in the center of each cell, which fades out into a neon green color, continuing her theme of brightness, and then began adding the subtle pink cells within the green and blue cells. The photo from Prachi Ghule led her to this choice, once again exploring the intricate details of the interior of a cell. Although the painting is not entirely scientifically accurate, it allows the viewer to look deeper into each other and explore the many different pieces that come together to make us whole, even on a scientific level.
Ellie Tobin, Untitled
In this painting, Ellie Tobin continued the theme of brightness through contrasting colors and patterns. Starting with the background, she painted a light transparent orange all over the canvas as a base. She then outlined where she would want her cells on the canvas, and painted various sizes of dots surrounding each cell, filling up the negative space. At first, Tobi was originally going to keep the cells an orange color similar to the background but decided to change the color scheme to purple, but instead she made the purple cells seemingly pop out from the canvas by also adding a pebbled orange background instead of a plain orange background. This allows the viewer to engage visually with the piece, even though it is a 2D work. Tobin gained inspiration for this piece from various images of microscopic images, such as images from John DeWitt, as well as inspiration from micrographs by Ziad El-Zaatari, which were found in an online science photo library. The original image presented a light micrograph of cribiform prostate cancer, which represents a more aggressive tumor. The combination of different shapes and colors within the painting allowed the artist to experiment with both subtle and drastic differences, leaving the viewer with a visually dynamic piece to explore. Furthermore, the composition explores the boundaries of science and art, leaving interpretation up to the viewer and their own story. To every person, this painting could mean something different and possibly see something different, reaching each person individually on a deeper level. This painting visually and mentally stimulates the eye to engage with viewers through a combination of microscopic science and art.
Carley Vernon, Unlikely Friends, Adobe Photoshop, paper cut, acrylic, spray paint, marker on canvas, 20x16,” 2025 Inspiration was drawn from personal experience and different science sources.
Carley Vernon, Unlikely Friends
Carley Vernon’s inspiration for this piece was her own experience with her grandmother’s battle with cancer and remembering her talk about all the different people she has come to know during her fight. Unlikely Friends is a depiction of two cancer patients of drastically different ages enjoying each other's company as they go through treatment. First, Vernon took reference photos of herself and used Adobe Photoshop to edit the figures to have ambiguous faces and features. Vernon felt that not depicting the figures with strong, recognizable features was the best way to avoid accidentally depicting someone, as well as to fully protect patient anonymity. She then made a paper cut of the Photoshop images, which she used as a stencil to spray paint onto the canvas. From there, she used acrylic paint to “clean up” any paint bleed from the spray paint, and color-blocked the background and other objects in the composition. Finally, she used a marker to outline where things were blocked out. She chose to color-block the piece because she wanted to avoid any rigid, authentic depictions of a hospital setting that may be triggering to some viewers, especially ones who may have gone through, or are currently going through treatment. The orange background makes the blue chairs really pop, bringing a sort of glow to the figures. The paintings on the walls were images taken from her previous piece, Fraternal.
Carley Vernon, Batter Up
Carley Vernon’s inspiration for this piece was the people close to her that have been affected by cancer; all of whom either lived full lives after cancer, or who continued to enjoy life as they fought until the end. The purple outline around the figures is a nod to one of Vernon’s previous paintings, Oh My Cells. This was meant to represent how the research continues to work in people’s lives, even after they have finished treatment. The two black and white figures are the same ones from another one of her previous pieces, Unlikely Friends. These people, who met during a trying time, remained friends even after they had finished their treatments. First, Vernon painted an orange wash as the base, which she then built the rest of the painting around. Vernon used Adobe Photoshop to sketch the two black and white figures. She then used these sketches to stencil an outline, and as reference when she painted the details. Vernon then painted the baseball field and the crowd. She intentionally painted the rest of the piece in a different style than the two black and white figures, as a way to further separate the unlikely friends from everyone else in the painting. Finally, Vernon used a marker to outline different parts of the painting. Vernon intentionally left some aspects of painting unfinished, representing how life remains unfinished as you continue to live it.
Carley Vernon, Batter Up, acrylic, Adobe Photoshop, marker on canvas, 20 x 24,” 2025 Inspiration was drawn from personal experience and different science sources.
Aidan Young, Figuring it Out, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24,” 2025 Inspiration was drawn from many science sources.
Aidan Young, Figuring it Out
In this painting, artist Aidan Young was inspired by the SciArt initiative to create something completely inventive, expanding upon natural forms found in cell structures. While using cell snapshots as references for both realistic and abstract works, Young was enamored by the way that all of. the cells appeared so unique and detailed. He admired how the researchers were studying life and wanted to do the same. Young began with the purple shape in the middle, adding the pink and blue as if they were the same shape but pulled in separate directions. He was hoping to create distortion on the canvas and thought that the bright colors chosen would create the most visually appealing effect. Young then started to add the detail, starting with lines in a darker purple in the middle and venturing out into the four corners. He then searched for figures within the lines, or at least a starting point to create a figure from. The method acted upon impulse, using one point of a figure as the starting point for the next. Young took this project on with complete invention, trying different methods and styles to create the figures along the way. Lastly, Young wanted to expand on the distortion idea in the background, using glazes to create a more translucent medium and blending layers of the original colors.
Aidan Young, Stand Tall
With this painting, artist Aidan Young sought to use the SciArt initiative to expand on his own artistic style. He was enamored by the snapshot of cells by researcher John DeWitt and thought it could be the perfect setting for a more abstract scene. He first painted the cell structures, using the photo as reference, but stylized the images with color and abstract marks. He used different shades of blue to create motion, shape, and movement in the scene. Young then painted what he calls ‘Spirits,’ a motif in his work that focuses on the natural curves and forms found in pottery, seeking to show human connection in a unique and unconventional fashion. The ‘Spirits’ were floating through the cells and disappearing in the cell wall, depicting a journey of some sorts. Young purposefully used the boarders to create a 3D element in the painting, having the cells and figures almost melt off on to the sides. The focal figure is the smallest yet most influential, striking a confident stance with white detailing to show the naturalness of all the figures. Young left whether the figures represent individuals or different phases of one whole up to the eye of the beholder, seeing that either could be fitting depending on how the viewer comprehends this painting with regards to their own experiences. Young believes that people reflect those they surround themselves with and wanted this painting to show connection through us all.
Elisabeth Barbieri, Flora y Fauna
In Flora y Fauna by Elisabeth Barbieri, inspiration was drawn from scientific researchers Dr. Brian Cunnif and Dr. Jason Stumpff to layer cellular imagery over and within a natural landscape. The painting is dreamlike and whimsical in its composition, portraying a swirling river climbing over tilted hills and swirling reds and oranges reaching from above into a cloud of yellow. Many different painting techniques were interposed in this work. Thick lines of impasto build the texture of the grass on the hills, while smooth brushstrokes create a floaty and whimsical sky. There are many different patterns and colors that catch the eye, from the water pattern in the bottom right corner to the cells raining down from the top of the painting, all paying homage to the scientific research done by Drs. Cunniff and Stumpff. This painting creates a dynamic harmony between the scientific and natural worlds in a magical setting that is bright and pleasing to the viewer. Cellular imagery is portrayed in the upper half of the painting in purple and magenta. That color motif is repeated in an abstract portrayal of flowers on the hills, linking the association of cells to nature. The shape is repeated in the pattern of the water, tying together all of the natural elements with science and uniting this childlike perception of the world with the wonder of research. Barbieri combines all this imagery to highlight the goals of the SciArt initiative to make science more approachable and accessible to all. Flora y Fauna is a reference to plants and animals; while we can see the grass and flowers explicitly in the work (representing "flora"), the "fauna" aspect is represented by the cells found in our own bodies. It is another reminder that humans and scientific research are still a part of the natural world.
Elisabeth Barbieri, Flame
In a second painting inspired by Dr. Brian Cunniff’s scientific materials, Elisabeth Barbieri chose to disregard the texture of the inspiration images and instead utilized smooth lines and blended colors to produce the cell-like shape. The warm color palette and careful brushstrokes work together to blend the reds to the yellows and altogether imitate the movement of flames. This allusion to fire, however, does not appear destructive or chaotic; in contrast, it appears very serene, the brushstrokes following movement together in a flow that provides depth and guides the eye of the viewer across the canvas. There is a clear path drawn from the top-right to the bottom-left of the shape, before the swirling circle in the top-left corner is noticed. In the very top-right corner of the canvas there is another smaller body, which follows the same color palette and style, but this, alongside the cerulean background, is more reminiscent of a fish than a lick of flames. The bright background color, much like the green and pink of the aforementioned work, was made to offset the orange palette of the cell shapes while harmonizing in both value and intensity. This painting portrays an abstract union between nature and science. It unites scientific shape with natural imagery in a way that isn’t explicit in its portrayal and can fit multiple narratives while still aligning with the intention of the SciArt Initiative. By combining scientific shape with natural imagery, this work provides accessibility to the understanding of the scientific world.
