More art of medicine

The elegant simplicity of Indigenous dot painting, and how it belies a structural complexity within the story of each work, has long fascinated me. I began experimenting myself, but “dot doodles”, with no story, were unfulfilling. A request for artwork from the Day Procedure Unit at my hospital led to the idea of combining work and art. My workday revolves around human anatomy. As a surgeon, I must understand the spatial relationships of structures. I see the apparent simplicity of their position, and yet still marvel at the boundless complexity of their function and the developmental process that has led to their arrangement. A marriage of this art form and these subjects seemed logical, with the parallel of elegant simplicity and structural complexity allowing me to feel comfortable and respectful in using this method of expression.