Anatomical brain art: four works on the head and on memory
A brain made of Imari porcelain, a brain grown into a cherry tree, a skull filled with water, a jigsaw putting itself back together: for those who look after the mind, from neurology to psychiatry.
Imari Cortex began with an Imari bowl with golden cracks, sitting on a shelf in the studio. One evening I saw a brain in it. In the painting the whole brain, cerebellum and brainstem included, has turned into blue and white porcelain scattered with red flowers. I gave it the story of a man of fifty-six who wakes up with a right arm that will not respond and words that tangle. Six months after his stroke he ties his own shoelaces again, and he has learnt to say his wife’s name. Neurologists call it plasticity.
Alzheimer Brain turns a brain into the crown of a cherry tree: blossom on one side, bare branches and petals blowing away on the other. Hanami, in Japanese, means looking at cherry blossom knowing it is about to fall. A man of seventy-five cannot remember his doctor’s name this morning, yet he remembers the taste of the jam he ate at six. I would suggest it for a geriatrician, or for a memory clinic team.
For psychiatry, Aqua Mentis fills a glass skull with clear water, lotus flowers and koi: the head of a man who has lived with an anxiety disorder since his teens, on a morning when, after two years of therapy, the room is finally quiet. Puzzle Therapeutic shows a teenager sitting between two walls, beneath jigsaw pieces coming back one by one. All four are signed, numbered art prints, limited to 20 copies per size, at €300 in 40 × 40 cm and €450 in 60 × 60 cm.
Imari Cortex
stroke recovery
A human brain has taken the shape of an Imari porcelain bowl, blue and white, scattered with red flowers and crossed by golden cracks. It is about stroke and plasticity: the brain rewiring itself around the damage, one path at a time, like the man who learnt to say his wife’s name again. I meant it for neurologists, and for the speech and language therapists who help the words come back.
Signed, numbered art print, edition of 20 per size
40 × 40 cm €300
60 × 60 cm €450
black floater frame: +€80 in 40 × 40 and 40 × 60 cm
A pink brain has become the crown of a cherry tree in blossom; on one side the branches are already bare and the petals blow away, while the roots still hold the ground. This is Alzheimer’s disease, memory leaving one flower at a time. Japanese has a word, hanami, for looking at cherry blossom while knowing it will soon fall. For a geriatrician, or a memory clinic team.
Signed, numbered art print, edition of 20 per size
40 × 40 cm €300
60 × 60 cm €450
black floater frame: +€80 in 40 × 40 and 40 × 60 cm
A clear skull has filled with water, pink lotus flowers open in it and koi swim right into the eye sockets. It came from a question a friend asked me: what does a head look like when it finally goes quiet? It is about anxiety disorder and the calm that comes back, a calm that is still alive, not switched off. For a psychiatrist or a psychologist.
Signed, numbered art print, edition of 20 per size
40 × 40 cm €300
60 × 60 cm €450
black floater frame: +€80 in 40 × 40 and 40 × 60 cm
A teenager sits on the ground between two walls, head bowed, beneath a glowing cloud of jigsaw pieces, a few of which are already drifting back down to him. It is about post-traumatic dissociation, and memory rebuilt piece by piece in therapy. I would give it to a psychologist or a child and adolescent psychiatrist.
Signed, numbered art print, edition of 20 per size
40 × 40 cm €300
60 × 60 cm €450
black floater frame: +€80 in 40 × 40 and 40 × 60 cm
Imari Cortex, a porcelain brain with golden cracks, is about stroke and plasticity. For multiple sclerosis, Carpal Spine is an 80 × 80 cm original, shown with the spines.
What is a good gift for a neurosurgeon?
Imari Cortex shows the whole brain, cerebellum and brainstem included, which matters to someone who operates on it. The 60 × 60 cm, at €450, reads from across an office.
What painting suits a psychiatrist or a psychologist?
Aqua Mentis for anxiety and the calm that returns, Puzzle Therapeutic for traumatic memory being rebuilt. Ayame’s Spine, about bipolar disorder, is shown with the spines.
Is a painting about Alzheimer’s too hard a gift?
Alzheimer Brain shows neither a patient nor a hospital: a cherry tree losing its blossom, and roots that hold. I made it for the people who care for those with the disease, in geriatric medicine as in neurology.
Are Medsan works posters?
No. They are signed, numbered art prints, limited to 20 copies per size, or originals, 80 × 80 cm oils on canvas. A poster carries neither a number nor a signature.
