Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Art Collection

  • Albert C. Barnes, MD: the physician who spun silver into gold

    Sylvia KarasuNew York, New York, United States Albert C. Barnes is known as the man who accumulated an incomparable art collection for a foundation that bears his name. Few, though, may know how he earned a place in the history of medicine, specifically through his development of Argyrol, the unique compound that was the source…

  • Breese Nursing Home: an exploration of humanity and love

    Ellen Jantzen Newport Beach, California, United States   I attended a nursing home Christmas party at the Breese Nursing Home in Illinois the week before Christmas, 2010 and was very moved by the residents and their families; it was a life-changing event for me. Before, while visiting my mother-in-law, I would divert my eyes when…

  • Dreams of healing

    Rev. Kari Lindholm-JohnsonChicago, Illinois, USA As a chaplain at Swedish Covenant Hospital, I am continually humbled in experiencing the force of people’s desire for healing. Patients willingly subject themselves to rigorous treatments in the pursuit of life, entrusting themselves to healthcare workers. This strong yearning for healing was explored in the Dreams of Healing art…

  • Progressions, 2009

    Zachary HollisChicago, IL, US Artist statementProgressions is a work inspired by M.C. Escher, admired by many as a visual mathematician. The use of negative space and positive space, their play on each other, and how we perceive what we see has always been of great interest to Zachary Hollis. In regards to the field of…

  • Pareidolia

    Vesna JovanovicChicago, Illinois, United States Artist’s statement I began working on the Pareidolia series in 2002 as part of my interest in exploring the relationship between chance and order. After randomly spilling some ink on paper, I looked at the shapes and saw objects that I associate with science: test tubes, flasks, and other laboratory…

  • Homelessness

    Rory HutchinsonEngland Mixed media on canvas100cm x 100cm (private collection) This painting is inspired by the plight of homeless patients and aims to highlight their loneliness and the isolation. Suspended in nothingness, the figure sits alone, surrounded by all he owns. He looks down, shoulders slumped. The viewer is allowed to sit and look without…

  • Fertility/Futility

    Raina CowanChicago, Illinois, USA Artist’s statementWhile undergoing treatment for infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, I became fascinated by the inner workings of the body. I made delicate watercolors: meditations on the elusive process of conception. Other pieces emerged: a cardboard marionette whose flayed heart is on the verge of bursting into flames; assemblage boxes containing…

  • Marc Chagall brings a message of hope and faith to the disabled

    Rachel C. BakerChicago, Illinois, USA Rehabilitating the disabled requires not only physicians, nurses, therapists, psychologists, social workers, and speech pathologists, but also aesthetically appealing surroundings. According to visionary Henry B. Betts, MD, former President of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), We do this by surrounding each disabled person with people and an environment that…

  • The fisherman’s lasagna: A love story about prescriptive photomontage and anorexia

    Nancy GershmanChicago, Illinois, USALauren Lazar SternPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Can Sally,1 a 32-year old struggling with anorexia, also be a responsible student nurse on an eating disorder unit? The answer is never under-estimate the power of denial.2 The very qualities that masked Sally’s obsessive thinking about fat and the next meal were just what the job…

  • Normal – Hang in There – The Monster and other work

    Monika Filipiak Peszek About two years after my daughter was born, I was depressed. I didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything. I could feel myself growing heavier and heavier, and angrier and angrier. I was mad at my husband all the time. I blamed him for the way I was feeling. I was…