20 Feb 2014 - It's a Beautiful World
'It's a Beautiful World'
‘It’s a Beautiful World’ exhibition was opened on 20th February by Professor Mary Horgan, Dean of School of Medicine at UCC.
‘It’s a Beautiful World’ celebrates the beauty of science and nature and draws from the everyday work of healthcare professionals and scientists.
The exhibition brings together scientists, clinicians and healthcare students to highlight the beautiful world we live in and the intrinsic beauty of scientific imagery.
Transitions are carefully managed to ensure a natural flow between exhibits.
Photographic production of scientific images was under the expert direction of Dr Frank Van Pelt, Department of Pharmacology.
Lysozyme crystals, electronmicroscopy images, kaleidoscopic cellular staining, dazzling motor neurons - science is indeed art when you view this collection of up close and personal scientific imagery from a range of Departments across the College of Medicine and Health at UCC.
Dr Conleth Murphy, a Consultant Oncologist at the Bon Secours Hospital Cork, has combined an MRI image of his wife’s brain with his drawing of her face, depicting the two different sides of his wife’s persona.
Pauline Scanlan, a researcher at Moorepark, Fermoy has painted a matrix based on interactions between host and parasite.‘Matrices are usually highly simplified versions of reality and in nature, things are more complex and not simply black or white.’
Stephen Bean, UCC cameraman, shows powerful images of convict remains discovered in un-marked graves during the UCC 2013 Spike Island archaeological excavation.
In his photography, Christian Waeber (Pharmacology) explores the concept of individuality, and how even subtle differences between genetically identical animals can influence the outcome of biomedical studies. Tommie McCarthy, Professor in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at UCC, has photographed ‘Louis’ Tattoo’. Louis, a Biochemistry PhD student, has a tattoo on his arm depicting a classical ABC transporter protein sitting in a lipid membrane surrounded by water.
Dr. Robert Fourie, Lecturer in Speech and Hearing Sciences at UCC, uses the medium of electronic art (radio pen and pad attached to a computer with a very bright screen). In Flight is a collaborative triptych between Robert and Irish photographer Dr Colman Casey.
Researchers at the INFANT Research Centre at Cork University Maternity Hospital have created an innovative digital exhibition featuring baby ‘brain sounds’. Brain waves from a sleeping premature baby were recorded and converted to sound. The result is a melodic symphony 'composed' by the baby.
Other images in the exhibition also convey what ‘A Beautiful World’ is all about – for Colin Bradley, Professor of General Practice, it is the sheer joy of a young girl laughing, for medical student Alice Kirby it is the smiling face of a man able to hear again for the first time in 20 years.
Dr Siun O’Flynn, Head of Medical Education at UCC, thanked Siobhan Murphy for her contributions to the Jennings Gallery and presented Siobhan with copies of 'Journeys Through Line And Colour' - Forty Irish Women Artists of the 20th Century and 'The Old Pier, Union Hall'
The authors, Dr Paul Finucane and Aileen Finucane were invited to present the signed copies to Siobhan who set up the Jennings Gallery in 2008.
The Exhibition is open from 20th February to 27th March, 2014.
Schools are very welcome to visit.
Many of the scientific images are available to buy as prints and many of the other artworks are also for sale.