The Indian Artist, Revamped: The Art in Science

Good Morning all! I hope that you are doing well. In an effort to bring more of a science energy to my column and explore various arenas of thought, I wanted to share an incredible artist who magnifies the smaller things in life!

The Life Cycle of Coronavirus

David Goodshell is an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute and research professor at Rutgers University, New Jersey. He is especially known for his gorgeous watercolor paintings of cell interiors and signature scientific illustration. As explained on his website, Goodshell has been working since the early 1990’s with a type of illustration that shows portions of living cells magnified so that you can see individual molecules. He explains, “I try to make these illustrations as accurate as possible, using information from atomic structure analysis, electron microscopy, and biochemical analysis to get the proper number of molecules, in the proper place, and with the proper size and shape.”

Influenza Virus

Many of Goodshell’s illustrations are free for download and use through a gallery at the RCSB Protein Data Bank. He has also published a book titled “The Machinery of Life,” which includes illustrations of portions of bacterial and human cells.

I love Goodshell’s work as it brings science and molecular life to the general public, educating people through beautiful images and artwork. Science is an art in itself and the aesthetic principles that artists worship are rooted in nature. Personally, I have always been very interested in medical illustration as well as the healing qualities of art via art therapy. I hope to speak more on these topics in the future and engage more intimately with my art in a scientific light.

Please let me know if there is anything more that you all would like to see from me. If any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me via my socials!

 

Until next week,

Riya

 

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/

Riya A

My name is Riya and I am currently a Senior at U of M studying Molecular Biology with a double minor in Art & Design and Sociology on the pre-med track. Art has been a huge passion of mine from a very young age and in the final iteration of my column, I look forward to sharing my passions as they connect to my culture, medicine, and art.

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