The Brain

Storm Flannery, Big Picture, Hobart City High School

In collaboration with Dr Sophie Navickas
Menzies Institute for Medical Research, UTAS

Artist’s Statement

For CoLab I decided to create a clay sculpture of a brain with a collection of little blue braincells running out of it and down the plinth. I was inspired by what I learnt from Sophie Navickas, our scientist from the Menzies Laboratory.

Learning about the brain and its cells was interesting. The cancer we were learning about, medulloblastoma, is a cancer mainly found in children. For this reason, I wanted the brain and the cells to look cartoonish and childish, so I could add a darkness that would upset the innocence of it. If you look closer, all the cells are scared, and the brain seems to be plagued with a purple darkness. I wanted to show what a child could maybe imagine when being told about brain cancer. Also showing how cancer is a horrible illness that can really change a child’s life.

I had trouble picking a colour for the braincells, as I wanted something contrasting from the brain. The cells I saw at the lab were all muted colours, so I went for a more abstract approach and I decided on the colour blue for the braincells. Blue is a colour of sadness and tragedy; I feel it fits the theme of the piece well. Another reason I chose blue was because I associate it with labs and science, most likely because of labs being a clean place, scientists wearing blue gloves and often blue containers and labels.

The main art piece that inspired me for the sculpture was the big metal playground at Mona. I’ve always liked the little metal men that you could spot on the playground, all doing different things. They all felt like living creatures, even though they were metal, and that just really intrigued me.

Looking at this piece, I want the audience to feel sympathetic seeing these cartoony characters scared, just like children with cancer.