Julia Buntaine

inArt

Medical Fields
Biology, Neurosciences

Creative Forms
Installation
Mixed media
Sculpture
Visual arts

Website / Blog
www.juliabuntaine.com/

Places
New York, USA

As an artist I am interested in what has proven to be the most complex puzzle, the epitome of emergence, the deepest well our sciences have examined; the brain. The instantiation of form and function united, from the molecular to the level of Neuroscience as a discipline, my work seeks to address the beliefs, theories and findings of the biological phenomenon of consciousness. Beginning with biological form or data, my work departs into the world of aesthetics as I manipulate the idea through the use of scale, metaphor, material and form. Unlike articles and raw data, scientific ideas in the form of art inherently demand subjective judgment and interpretation, and my goal as a science-based artist is to provide my viewer an alternative way to understand the wonders of biology we have discovered in ourselves.

Julia Buntaine

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"Windows into the Mind". A site-specific installation at Lafayette College, Easton PA. Brain slides from a rhesus macaque monkey. Windows into the Mind is a site-specific installation for the windows of the guard house on Sullivan Road at Lafayette College. Comprised of old-style brain slides from rhesus macaque monkeys, the glass illuminates in the daylight and glows in the evening. Juxtaposed against the large empty space, the slides contain something much larger: parts of minds past. 2016 © Julia Buntaine

"Wave(s)" Gamma Wave(s). (2' x 2' x 2.5'. Rebar Wire). One way to look at the activity of the brain is through electrical waves. A more familiar wave measurement is the EKG for the heart muscle, but for the brain the measurement is called EEG (short for Electroencephalogram), and works in essentially the same way. There are multiple kinds of waves measured from brain activity and this is due to the variety of activity, or neural oscillation, the brain exhibits naturally. Simple put, when you are falling asleep you exhibit one type of oscillation (alpha waves), and when you are awake and active you exhibit another. In the neurosciencetific study of consciousness, Gamma-type waves were originally thought to be the “consciousness waves”, exhibiting the frequency of oscillation thought necessary to produce our conscious experience as human beings. Although there has been no consensus on this theory, it is one among many theories of how consciousness arises from the activity of the billions of neurons that compose the brain. This piece is an exploration of the potential of brain wave forms. 2013 © Julia Buntaine

"Butterflied". (mixed media). n. any of numerous diurnal insects of the order Lepidoptera,characterized by clubbed antennae, a slender body, and large,broad, often conspicuously marked wings n. a person who flits aimlessly from one interest or group to another: a social butterfly v. to slit open and spread apart to resemble the spread wings of a butterfly. 2013 © Julia Buntaine

"Burst" (1.5'x2'. monofilament, steel wire, wood). The thalamus, a symmetrical structure located at the center of the brain, serves as the sensory relay station for all incoming sensory information, making its role in the formation of a conscious experience critical. 2012 © Julia Buntaine

"Reading". (paper, books, concrete). Ion channels area biological protein form which facilitate the diffusion of ions across the cellular membrane, ultimately contributing to cellular function, such as propagation of an action potential. 2009 © Julia Buntaine

Julia Buntaine

BIO
Julia Buntaine is a New York City-based artist who creates sculptures, prints, and installations that explore the biology and workings of the brain. Earning her BA in Sculpture and Neuroscience from Hampshire College and MFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, Buntaine has been making this type of work since 2008. Accurately representing scientific concepts and forms, Buntaine's work brings the science of the brain to the public using the tools of aesthetics. Her pieces have been bought by Johns Hopkins University, installed at Lafayette College and Hampshire College, and have been exhibited internationally in Toronto, Seattle, Santa Fe, Baltimore, New York, Amherst, and Madison. Buntaine is also Director of SciArt Center, and Editor-in-Chief of SciArt Magazine.