An entrance into the study of neuroendocrinology in relation to art.

My practice serves to combine the oxymoronic combination of art and science, specifically neuroendocrinology, which is the study of external factors that effect the nervous system, impact hormones and which in turn effects how we act. The focus matter of my project is myself, as the scientist, the artist and the subject, and my own subconscious which determines how I react to my own work. These involuntary aspects of myself impacted why I made the decision that the drawings I created for this project were self-portraits generated without the comfort of viewing the paper and with a limitation of two minutes and thirty seconds. My research and source material has been majorly concentrated on Doctor Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University’s writings. I also focused on my own research into neuroendocrinology, the psyche and subconscious and involuntary action.

The combination of science and art are important to me because I have a very scientific family, most of which have degrees and or careers in a scientific industry. Within my close family I have been a fish out of water, explaining metaphorical meanings behind art to my family who would never understand. Furthermore, I work in a hugely scientific manner and these subjects fascinate me, specifically neuroendocrinology and psychology. I hoped that, to generate a topic such as this, my work would not only appeal to myself, but also a more scientific audience who would have never thought to look at art in a more methodical, analytical and systematic manner.

In regard to the processes of my work, I have created multiple self-portraits using red ink and A4 sketching paper, giving myself two and a half minutes per image every day. These drawings were completed using these materials as I believe that the red ink is very striking and that the size of A4 is not only universal but used widely in the scientific world. These images were made whilst looking in the mirror and without looking at the paper. Following completion, they were then scanned in and these images were combined during week 8 of the semester to then create an A3 image for my exhibition in week 9. There were 25 images within this image and although I struggled to start this project in what it was meant to be, I believe that this way of working was the right choice and I intend to continue and develop this project further throughout the years.

The main artist in which effected the development of this project was Claude Heath, specifically his blindfold drawings (1996). As well as this, more external factors (non-artistic) effected my work such as the book ‘Why Zebra’s Don’t get Ulcers’ written by Dr Robert Sapolsky (1994) and other neuroendocrinology as well as psychology information. In order to develop my practice, in which I intend to continue this project, I will not only complete more self-portraits, but also combine them in multiple ways such as making GIF’s and videos.