SciArt Magazine - All Issues December 2015 | Page 15

with the intention of creating a visual bridge between
inner and outer space.
The smallest sculpture in the neuroscience–inspired
series, Catalyst, utilizes bright colors and scale to reference the small but complex dynamics of chemical reaction.
JB: While your titles like Flare, Cellular Dialogue, and
Glial give away the scientific inspiration behind your work,
aesthetically your work lies in the realm of abstract art. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this conscious (or unconscious)
choice?
RK: Scientific observations expressed through the
language of art and my own personal vision allows me to
link and transform the similarity and significance of patterns in art and nature. Investigating nature as a dynamic
mapping system, my artwork re–imagines what scientists
see, so on some level the creation of each work, to answer your question, is both a conscious and unconscious
act and choice.
As an artist, viewing abstract artwork continues to
reveal new things. Recently while looking at one of the
circular elements from the NeuroCantos installation I
began to see the shape as a human eye viewing a rock.
My mind allowed and created this new interpretation.
It was not obvious or naturally visible. This experience
was reminiscent of a quote of neuroanatomist Santiago
Ramón y Cajal from his book Advice for a Young Investigator: “The object here is to focus the train of thought on
more and more complex and accurate associations between images based on observation and ideas slumbering
in the unconscious.”
A similar experience related to the unconscious nature
of viewing art occurred during my residency at National
Institutes of Health. A neuroscientist viewed my sculpture The Measure of All Things which explores the principles of sacred geometry as a visual mapping system for
the human body, portrayed by two large wave–shaped
forms. This geometric waveform also maps a harmonic
in music, referencing how mathematics creates a language between man and all things in nature. The smaller
blue circular forms symbolize the relationship of water
in the body and its connection to larger bodies of water
in nature (symbolized by the larger circle in the center).
Upon viewing this sculpture, the neuroscientist commented that she saw it as the physics phenomenon of

SciArt in America December 2015

constructive interference. Our dialogue confirmed my
title choice was appropriate, since constructive interference is ‘the measure of all things’.
Another sculpture referenced in your question, Cellular
Dialogue, explores how water and cells create a dialogue
between man and the ocean. The small circular form in
the center represents the significance of water in the
cell, and is surrounded by yellow radiating lines referencing the cell’s actin cytoskeleton. The larger blue circle
symbolizes the ocean, the home to cellular organisms
such as radiolarians, expressed through cutout shapes
suspended above the circle. Blue paint applied as a stain
references Nissl, a dye solution used in specimen preparation to make the invisible visible. Cellular Dialogue, like
many of my sculptures, uses science as a point of departure on a journey of personal discovery.
JB: What is your favorite piece that you’ve made in the past
ten years, and why?
RK: Divining Nature: An Elemental Garden, because of
its positive impact on both scientific and non–scientific
communities and its ability to serve as a catalyst for
changing the way people think about the Periodic table
and chemistry.
If I could choose a second favorite piece it would be
Portal, (another collaborative project with sound artist,
Susan Alexjander). Inspired by gravitational wave physics
and the notion of Gedankenexperiment (thought experiment), this installation utilizes sculpture and sound
to interpret the tracery patterns of the orbits of binary
black holes, and celebrates the 100th anniversary of
Einstein’s discovery of general relativity. It also creates a
visual dialogue between geological and space–time.
JB: What artists would you put on your artist family tree?
RK: There have been several artist/scientists throughout the history of science who have influenced my work
including Leonardo da Vinci, the natural philosopher
Athanasius Kircher, biologist Ernest Haeckel, and Santiago Ramón y Cajal. In terms of more contemporary
visual artists, my artist family tree would include: Eva
Hesse, Andy Goldsworthy, and James Turrell, to name a
few.
Below: The Measure of All Things (2012). 25” x 144” x 6”.
Acrylic and graphite on Mylar. Photo credit: Mimi Xang Ho.

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