Studies for Neurons
Charlie is creating a series delicate hand drawn glass sculptures which respond to the emerging cell cultures she’s observing through microscopes in Dr Selina’s Wray’s dementia research lab at UCL’s Institute of Neurology.
Researching and learning about the cells structures and architectures (cytoarchitecture) through her making experiments and activities, she is investigating the many different ways in which cells and their functions are visualised and represented.
Examining the intricate rituals, processes and tools used to develop and nurture human tissues in 2 and three dimensional formats , Charlie’s ‘studies’ sketch out some of the structures, cell types and connections she is learning about as her skin sample are gradually transformed into functioning neuronal cultures.
Exploring new techniques for applying and integrating colour into the glass, this series of ‘studies for neurons’ reference the codified colour stains used to identify and verify different cell types and question the supposed neutrality of scientific illustration.
These images show early stage outcomes from her collaborative research project in progress with UCL’s molecular neuroscientist Dr Selina Wray and PhD researcher Chris Lovejoy. Further artworks and events are in development.