Eclipse; Eclipsed
Eclipse; Eclipsed
These paintings express the impact of the onset of prion diseases from 2 perspectives.
Eclipse, composed of 4 panels, focuses on the biological mechanism – a devastating
chain reaction of cell death.
The painterly background and close-packed circles evoke the ever-shifting vitality of living cells. Inspired by images of prion-affected brain tissue which put the artist in mind of scorch-marks, she has used a blowtorch to blister the carefully crafted surface and casts a deadening shadow with a black wash to show an ever-expanding event-horizon of destruction.
Eclipsed, a single painting, illustrates a lifetime cut short.
Year-on-year we increase our experiences and memories, which overlap and entangle. Circles arranged in a grid represent years, with one extra line drawn through each time they progress.
The final 2 featured circles show prion disease taking hold, ending in blackness. A full stop, followed by blank spaces where the years should have continued
Artist – Emily Jolley
Emily Jolley, BA Fine Art (First), is an abstract artist based in Cambridgeshire who specialises in expressive paintings incorporating emulsion paint.
Her painting style developed from a desire to express ideas of transience and connectedness.
She is influenced by modernism including abstract expressionism and inspired by the natural world.
Scientist – Patrick Lewis
Professor of Neuroscience, The Royal Veterinary College
Patrick Lewis’s research is looking at rare forms of neurodegeneration linked to abnormal protein called a prions, infectious lumps of protein that accumulate and spread inside the brain, causing damage and eventual death to brain cells. In humans, they’re found in a rare form of dementia called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which wipes out memories, and features movement disorder that leads to incapacitation and death within 6 to 12 months of the onset of disease.