Artist Statement for Medicine Unboxed 2012

I am interested in the concept of ‘the origin of belief’. How are beliefs formed? Are our beliefs individual to us, or influenced by social and cultural factors surrounding us?

 

 

I read that “belief is a mental architecture of how we interpret the world”.

This made me think of formal structures, the organisation of cells that make up the intricate civilisation of tissues which house our thoughts. Although the brain of the doctor would look identical to that of the patient under the microscope, what is it that causes us to adopt different belief systems and thought processes? We all share the same neuroanatomy, but no two minds are identical.

 

Historical references have been documented concerning the discoveries that neuroscientists have made, connecting the hard-wired organisational structure of the brain with the intangible beliefs that we humans hold. For hundreds of years, there have been documented cases of people who have physically damaged their brain through illness or trauma, which has resulted altered behaviour, and possessing very specific delusions, beliefs held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary. This anecdotal evidence is now being confirmed with the development of science and technology. A method of taking pictures of the human brain working, known as functional neuroimaging, shows us the brain lighting up like a Christmas tree when the subject is experiencing different emotions, allowing us to actually see wherein the brain these intangible thoughts originate from within this organ.

“Beliefs are mental objects, in the sense that they are embedded in the brain”.

I wanted to work with this idea of functional imaging, representing the origins of belief. I based the images on real MRI scans that I am used to seeing everyday in a professional capacity, using images of the brain where it had been ‘cut’ into interesting sections which are not easily recognisable. The hard, cold, science of anatomy and pathology, have been contrasted with ancient techniques and muted colours to produce the ethereal quality of the images of the mind in action. The canvases are layered with gesso to incorporate texture. The palette is calm and neutral, reminding me of the transient nature of dust; how our delicate and fragile beliefs could fade with time.