24
Oct
Artist Profile: Colin Raymond
Colin Raymond has been living in Ann Arbor for five years and grew up outside of Chicago. He started painting, drawing and sculpting when he was very young, but chose to follow a second passion for science into undergraduate and graduate study. While never entirely halting the art-making process, over the last year he has rediscovered a serious interest in art, in part as relief from the pressures and challenges of scientific research but perhaps, more importantly, as a way to explore the new ideas which he has come across as a student of neuroscience. In his most recent work he has attempted to address some of these ideas.
Eruption. 3x5”. Oil and mixed media.
Hardwired. 5x8”. Oil and mixed media.
Pop Up A2: What is the major theme of your artwork?
Colin Raymond: I’m fascinated by the patterns that emerge from nature, the stories told through biological research and the possibility of finding meaning in life through studying life directly. I don’t know if I’ve ever made anything that captures the entirety of this concept but this particular motivation leads me down a number of related paths.
I frequently daydream about microscopic landscapes; what does it look like to walk along the surface of a white blood cell? If that cell were the size of the Earth then perhaps it’s a bit like walking down Michigan Avenue. Cell membranes are busy places. I’d love to see it in person or have a complete blueprint to look at.
Sunset Off Broadway Bridge. 9x12”. Oil pastel on paper.
Part of my interest in this theme is pure aesthetic fascination. Life is full of patterns and sometimes I’m satisfied just to look at them and wonder. More often, however, the patterns have some meaning and clue about as to their function. This really interests me especially when the same pattern is present in two different worlds with a similar function. For example, some bridges use these massive steel cables made of bundles of smaller wound fibers, like bundles of rope. The purpose is to give integrity to the structure by storing energy in tension. Deep inside of cells there are small filaments called the cytoskeleton. They have the same braided fiber appearance as the bridge cables and they are anchored to the inside surface of the cell membrane. Tension from the membrane being pushed and pulled upon from all different angles by these small filaments is what gives the cell its shape and durability. It’s fascinating to see images of these structures and then try to explore how they might fit in a different context, or in isolation.
There are many examples of this structural homology. It really motivates me, but it’s such a big idea, and it’s so hard to catch so I keep trying to look at it from different ways. Sometimes all you can do is observe life and be fascinated. And you don’t need a microscope. One of my favorite places to look is at the bark of a tree. If you get close enough so that your nose is almost touching the bark then the surface of a tree can look like a vast forest of its own. Instead of massive tree branches fighting for sunlight, it’s just these delicate little petals of moss or lichen, but they are fighting the same fight. This makes me wonder whether mankind so special and if we really are that unique in terms of what we experience when we build and communicate.
Escapement.
A2: Why do you do what you do?
CR: I love ideas, rational explanation and scientific inquiry. But I also love the raw power of visual communication. Images affect me in a way that words cannot. Likewise, I’m very driven by images, even when I’m doing the most mundane task, like trying to balance my checkbook. I have to see it, or else I’m lost. So maybe you could say that it’s something that just fits well with the way that my brain is wired.
Megan Reading. 9x12”. Oil pastel on paper
My primary occupation is in scientific research, and my time is spent trying to determine whether an idea is right or wrong. I make art because for me it is like a sandbox; a chance to play where there are no rules - although, perhaps, that’s only partly true. There’s no way to completely stop the drive to think analytically. But, so much of what I make is not representational, so there is little to analyze. And I do evaluate my own work in great detail, but not for content as much as for intention or application of technique. As long as I feel that I am pursuing an idea for its own sake, for the sake of seeing it in the world then I can let it go and play.
Learn more about Colin Raymond and his artwork online:
