Women: a Cartography

Women: a Cartography is a mixed media exhibition of creative work inspired by the hysterectomy and mastectomy cellular pathology specimens of artists Rachel Cochrane and Maggie Hickman Smith.

The artists have worked closely with the cellular pathology departments at North Tees and Hartlepool NHSFT and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead. They hope to reveal to the general public the essential component of diagnosis that is not ordinarily seen or acknowledged – the biomedical scientist’s interpretation of microscopic images, and the beautiful patterns of disease that are invisible to the naked eye.

The exhibition is further inspired by the recent tour to Sunderland of the work of polymath Leonardo da Vinci who died in 1519. Rachel and Maggie use a variety of creative techniques old and new: from drawing with gall wood ink to digital photography and film. The artists also explore five hundred years of development in our understanding of the human body – from da Vinci’s anatomical drawings to the latest digital imaging of microscopic cellular pathology.

For more information about the exhibition, see our news story.

Women: a Cartography is on display at Arts Centre Washington until October 26. Entry is free.