A Visual Translator
I seek to combine art, medicine and technology, specifically medical imaging and 3D printing, to improve the lives of those around me as I continue my medical career.
Category Archives: Visual Arts
COVID-19 Advocacy Through Art
This visual package by Ryoko Hamaguchi, now being used by the American Medical Association, is comprised of multiple illustrated icons of healthcare workers and the public – celebrating the tireless efforts of the former in keeping us safe and calling upon the latter to continue doing our part in this fight.
Embracing Technology in Art
Artist Statement: I am in a raw mood, somewhere between contentment, unease, angst and spiritual yearning. I plop myself onto the couch and put on my headphones. Tame Impala, Sylvan Esso and Tycho take turns singing to my music catchers. Coming to the forefront, there’s
Suture by day, cut and nail by night
Artist Statement: “I believe you have to think about it all carefully. You have to plan each step. The components have to be measured at least twice. Once you cut, there is no turning back. I now find it addicting: creating a piece of furniture
Delicate Touch in Painting Translates to Ophthalmology
Artist Statement: Dr. Jaclyn Gurwin, a third year Ophthalmology resident at the University of Pennsylvania’s Scheie Eye Institute, has been drawing and painting since a young age. As a fine arts minor at the University of Pennsylvania, she received formal art training that helped
A Physician’s Eye for Abstraction
In my painting I use fundamental, geometric shapes: squares, rectangles, triangles, and an occasional circle as a kind of vocabulary. I arrange the forms to interplay with one another. I use color to fill the forms or highlight the forms and create other interactions. You
Intimate
Intimate Watercolor and ink on paper Reference: Netter’s Atlas of Human Anatomy, 6th ed. How does one visually depict the topic of anatomical donation and cadaver dissection, memorializing the donors’ ultimate gift to medical education while preserving the sanctity of their bodies? “Intimate” is one
Psychiatry and the Self
To make art is to examine the self. To practice psychiatry is to examine the other, in relation to the self. Both are phenomenological. They are inextricably linked, and bidirectional. As a psychiatrist, I heal and comfort patients who suffer from immense physical and psychological
Brainstem Cross Sections
The brainstem, the gateway between the body and the brain, contains a bundle of functional pathways that move in three dimensions through its three parts: the medulla, pons, and midbrain. Learning to “localize the lesion” in the brainstem involves mapping neurological symptoms onto this tangled
Diversity and Strength of Aging on the Covers of the Gerontologist
Looking back at my published work on the covers of The Gerontologist, two underlying themes are diversity and strength in old age. Any student of aging knows that the older population is more diverse than ever, with differences expressed in color, culture, identity, social standing,
Philadelphia Skyline
A little over six months ago, I moved from Minnesota to Center City for medical school and it wasn’t long before I loved the area, hot as it was in early August. With my newly adopted life on a bicycle, I discovered the charm of
Netter’s Symposium
Chen Zhou is a current third year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Chen has been painting since the age of four. He struggled with reconciling his love for the arts with his decision to pursue medicine as a career. He always felt like
Mahosot Surgery I
Title: Mahosot Surgery I Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 18” x 27″ Date: March 2015 About: Mahosot Surgery I is the first of three paintings inspired by my time spent shadowing physicians at Mahosot Hospital in the capital city of Vientiane, Laos. The subject of this painting is a
Mahosot Surgery II
Title: Mahosot Surgery II Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 20″ x 26″ Date: April 2015 About: Mahosot Surgery II was inspired by my time spent at Mahosot Hospital, a public hospital in the capital city of Vientiane, Laos. There I shadowed both Lao and foreign physicians, including teams
Calloused Fingertips
“Calloused Finger Tips” Self-portrait, one-touch ultra test strips. Over the last 22 years of living with type 1 diabetes, I, along with thousands of other type 1’s, have pricked my finger 40,105 times. We wake up in the middle of the night to check our
Mahosot Surgery III
Title: Mahosot Surgery III Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 28″ x 22″ Date: Spring – Oct. 17th, 2016 About: Mahosot Surgery III was inspired by the artist’s time spent at Mahosot Hospital, a public hospital in the capital city of Laos. There she shadowed
Happy Halloween!
Follow Mike on instagram (@mike.natter) for more of his medical doodles.
Delayed Gratification
Follow Mike on instagram (@mike.natter) for more of his medical doodles.
Fluorescent Microscopy
Fluorescent Microscopy Medium: Water-miscible oil Size: 18″ x 24″ This painting was inspired by the meditative experience of working under the glow of fluorescent microscopy. Here, the microscope shines green light at the specimen while the woman looks through the objective. She has incubated her
