Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Fear

  • Traumatic experience and creativity: René Magritte

    Mirjana Stojkovic-IvkovicBelgrade, Serbia A painter’s creativity often results from artistic inspiration, but it can also be a manifestation of fear, pain, and suffering. René Magritte (1898–1967), a Belgian painter and great figure in modern art, expressed his thoughts and his feelings on the canvas. His unique style and original ideas make him one of the…

  • Theme

    EPIDEMICS Published in March, 2020 H E K T O R A M A   . The recent coronavirus outbreak inevitably brings to mind the Spanish flu, the deadly influenza pandemic of a century ago. Here we republish seven articles about this devastating viral disease that spread to the four corners of the world, killing…

  • Avulsions

    Torree McGowanCulver, Oregon, United States There are moments in life that serve as a dividing line. These instants sharply incise our worlds into before and after, the then and the now. Moments shimmer like a crystalline barrier, allowing you to see so clearly through to what was, but that past is just out of reach.…

  • Maimed

    Laura WendorffPlatteville, Wisconsin, United States Your friend says, think of the Amazonswho cut off their right breasts in order to easily draw back their bows. But the loss is not like that. It’s more like a flower dug out of the ground,soil still clinging to its roots like the memoryof heavy clay and earthworms. *…

  • A proliferation of monsters: Art of the weird as expressions of anxiety in Britain and Japan

    Steve WheelerGreenwich, London, England The human fascination with fear of the unknown has been documented in art and literature across civilization for centuries. In every culture, this has manifested itself in the form of creatures as bizarre as they are terrifying. Since the evolution of language, humans have invented and told stories about monsters to…

  • Fear

    Dalis Seungeun KimUSF Morsani College of Medicine, USA Artist statement This painting depicts fear and the interplay of different regions of the brain (i.e. hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala). The serpent’s tongue is reaching toward the individual in white—haunting memory inducing fear in the hippocampus (brain area essential in memory). Meanwhile, the face on the…