A Dialogue Between the Scientist and the Artist

This Visions exhibition is a unique project which documents the exploration of a series of relationships. It begins with a dialogue between the scientist and the artist as the two of them embark on the discovery of The Universal and The Personal, The Objective and The Imaginary – equipped: one with the microscope the other with the paintbrush. The viewers are invited to add their own understanding or simply absorb what is presented to them. Dorota, with her PhD in Biochemistry from University of Geneva and Eva, bringing her Visual Arts education from York University converge on a common goal – to share their vision, to take science out of the lab and make it more accessible to the nonscientific world. The colors that bring out the biological structures under the scientist’s microscope are replaced by watercolors and inks and spread out onto the painting surface and capture the viewers’ eye. The cycle is complete. In this process, the beholder is invited into the process of discovery when the micro reality is being transformed onto a very large canvas.

watercolor art of an eye

Dr. Dorota Kowronska-Krawczyk was born in Lodz, Poland. She received her MSc in Molecular Biology at the University of Warsaw and PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Geneva. She was a fellow at Jules Gonin Ophthalmic Institute in Lausanne and at UCSD. Dr. Kowronska-Krawczyk is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Ophthalmology and Physiology & Biophysics at UCI School of Medicine. She is the core faculty of the Center for Translational Vision Research. Dorota is interested in gene expression regulation, and the impact of global changes in nuclear organization on cellular programs including aging and age-related diseases. The eye is her favorite model system. Research in her laboratory is focused on understanding the transcriptomic and epigenetic changes associated with neurodegeneration and aging to describe molecular pathways underlying pathological processes in glaucoma.

Eva Henry-Dawson, Toronto-based Polish Canadian artist, works from a broad palette. She creates static and dynamic graphics, experiments in acrylics and ink, and is an accomplished illustrator. Nomad at heart and advocate by nature, Eva draws inspiration from her surroundings, her vast network of people and her own life story. Her writings and poetry are rich and the people she encounters are quintessential to everything she does. A graduate of York University and Sheridan College, Eva seeks a better world. She is actively involved in many charitable causes and has been known to attend an occasional protest or two. She expresses this passion in her work by mingling serious subject matter with a whimsy rooted in compassion and love creating a charm that is truly unique and unmistakably Eva's. Her paintings hang on walls all over the world, her graphics and editorials have graced magazines and book covers, and her work has brought in thousands in charity auctions.

a person gives a talk to people sitting in chairs. The speaker is standing in front of a screen
a person gives a talk to people sitting in chairs. The speaker is standing in front of a screen
a person gives a talk to people sitting in chairs. The speaker is standing in front of a screen
a person gives a talk to people sitting in chairs. The speaker is standing in front of a screen
a person gives a talk to people sitting in chairs. The speaker is standing in front of a screen
a person gives a talk to people sitting in chairs. The speaker is standing in front of a screen
two people smile while standing in front of a piece of watercolor art
people walk around a gallery area looking at art
a person gives a talk to people sitting in chairs. The speaker is standing in front of a screen
people stand and smile for the camera while standing next to water color art
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Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, Scientist

Eva Henry- Dawson, Artist

Phillip Kiser, Scientist

Zach Engfer, Scientist & Artist

Aicha Saadane, Scientist

Vladimir Kefalov, Vice Chair and Scientist