Concentration #6

This painting depicts Cystic Fibrosis, a disease in which build-up in the lungs and other organs cause frequent infections. I used a blue and green color scheme to partially represent the build-up in the organs, but I chose shades that are not disgusting. The long horizontal shapes are the cell membranes which contain the protein which allows chloride ions (the green spheres) to pass through, or in the case of a person with Cystic Fibrosis (the delta508 form), the protein does not let the ions through so they collect on the outside of the cell. The deformed cell membrane protein is represented in the top cell membrane, it is missing several of the extensions seen in the protein in the middle cell membrane. The rods in the background are chromosomes which code for this protein, and the nucleotide sequence for the healthy or malfunctioning protein is written into the shadows of the cell membrane for texture.

Concentration #5

This piece is Down Syndrome, which occurs when the chromosomes do not separate properly in cell division. Someone with Down Syndrome has an extra 21 chromosome which results in the symptoms of Down Syndrome (written on DNA strands in background). People with Down Syndrome have very happy, innocent dispositions (represented through the color scheme in background and chromosomes). This piece has developed considerably from its early direction and the suggestions I received at the critic helped me to change it to the way it looks now. However, I am uncertain about the extra chromosome in the middle of the bottom row of chromosomes. I don't know how best to make it stand out, while still making it appear to be a part of the set of chromosomes.

Concentration #4

This concentration piece is Hemophilia. The background texture is drippy and splattered to represent blood. The top and bottom blood vessels (dark red) are healthy, while the blood vessels in the middle are broken in two places, and they are not healing. The bright blue strands are fibrin molecules, the molecules necessary for blood clotting. The fibrin molecule in the middle is falling apart because it is missing key components (specifically factor viii) which are not synthesized because of the genetic anomaly that causes Hemophilia. Finally, I added blue splatter on top of the section of the painting depicting the structural breakdown during Hemophilia to give it a foggy, broken feeling (also to represent atoms and molecule building blocks of the fibrin that are not put together properly).

Concentration #3

This piece depicts the general qualities of cancer. It is black and white because the kind of microscope that shows cells in three dimensions do not show color. The top middle section shows cancer cells growing uncontrollably. The bottom left and middle right sections show normal cells that grow in sheets then stop growing. The sections with words in the top corner and middle left describe the effects of normal cell growth and division in non-cancerous cells. The bottom section with words described the impact of cancer cells going through abnormal cell division (they don't stop dividing). The white sections show the cell cycles, how a particular cell grows and divides, and fails to divide if there is no need for more cells. The half circle in the cancer column portrays an abnormal cell cycle. A cancerous cell ignores key signals that regulate the cell cycle, so cancerous cells divide ceaselessly. I thought about adding color, like red, in a few places, but I am worried about it looking like an after-thought. I may add color later. I would appreciate any suggestions regarding where color might add interest to the piece, without looking out of place. This piece fits into my concentration as it investigates the impact of a breakdown in microscopic structure (cellular regulations in this case). I chose to divide the painting into distinct sections this time so that not all of my pieces are very heavily layered; so it is different from the others but it still has the same central idea.
Here's the edited version with color: