Dr. Peter N Gray, Scientist and DNA Artist

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted October 17, 2007 in DNA Fun, Personalities with DNA

This past summer, I featured Dr. Peter Gray of Metal-i-Genics Studio who was formerly head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. I was pleased to hear from him personally about the Digital’07 exhibition that is running from October 6 to January 27 hosted by Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI). There’s an online showcase and live presentation at the New York Hall of Science. Dr. Gray was one of only 23 artists whose work, a digital depiction of mitochondrial DNA ancestry, was selected for the exhibition.

Dr. Gray is also looking for scientists and artists in the Chicago area to help expand his summer program on Genetics and Sculpture. This program is aimed at inner city 6th and 7th graders who create a genetically-based sculpture plus other works of art in a five-week program that culminates in an exhibition during Chicago Artists Month in October. If you’re interested in helping out, please leave a comment below or email peter AT metal-i-genics DOT com.

Lucy by Peter N. Gray
Studies in Android Genomics

I also had the chance to ask Dr. Gray about his background and what it’s like to make the transition from science to art. Here’s his response:

I received training in art and graphics at the Delaware Art Institute and a New York graphics design firm, and earned a Bachelor of Arts & Science from the University of Delaware, a Master of Science from the Northwestern University Medical School, and a Ph.D. in biomedicine from The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the M. D. Anderson Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas. In addition, I’ve completed a two-year residency at the CNRS in Marseille, France. Early research was on ribosome subassembly and later on Huntington’s Disease.

I work at Metal-i-Genics Studio located in Chicago’s West side and teach a special Genetics and Sculpture summer program in a Chicago public school. I am an Illinois Road Scholar, a participating member of Chicago Sculpture International, the International Sculpture Center, and ASCI, the Arts & Science Collaboration, Inc. in New York City.

One of my goals is making science available and understandable to the general public and I think art is one way to achieve this. The underlying concepts emanate from multidisciplinary biomedical experiences and artistic training, as well as extensive travels in Europe and Asia. Each piece is designed to bring the artistic aspects of science into the realm of each person. What do the sex chromosomes really look like? What genetic structure underlies Fragile-X syndrome? At times I capture the ironic concept of human beings trying to recreate themselves with technology—the development of “humanoids” as the further development of task-oriented robots into androids and cyborgs. My series on Android Genomics, genetic sequencing of androids, should they have any, is one such endeavor.

I’ve been asked about making the transition from science to art; however, I think it is either the other way round, or the bigger transition from physics to molecular biology. While studying painting and stone sculpture in high school, I also was majoring in physics and polymers. It wasn’t until graduate school that my paintings included scientific content. There may have been a small voice in the background that suggested science was more likely to pay the rent. I think many scientists recognize an artistic quality in some aspects of their scientific research. It probably is easier as an electron microscopist, cell biologist or nanotechnologist and often many set aside images they particularly like. In my case, I recognized them in an artistic way, but all too frequently kept them only as scientific information and rarely went further. Is was only later when I started working in steel and bronze that I used many of these mental images as concepts for large sculptures. Scientists and artists each take critical objective views of an object or concept. The scientist seeks facts and beauty of a developing theory that may or may not be proven, while the artist either looks within the concept or object for deeper meaning or extrapolates to a broader philosophical or emotional interpretation that may be expressed in an abstract or representational manner.

Tags: peter gray, genetics, genes, dna, science, genomics, scientist, artist, art, sculptures

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