I ART MY SCIENCE
Patterns of the population and the illumination
Type
Mixed media painting
Place of Origin
Turkey
Year
2022-2023
Inspiration and composition
Inspired by the ‘I Art My Science’ explorations and patterns call, Spronk thought it would be interesting as part of her major research project to show the diversity of epidemiology studies, similar to a literature review, but through the medium of abstract art. On an acrylic background, Spronk drew lines for each research project within epidemiology for 2021. While the image may look like random lines and shapes, ‘the conceptualisation of the piece came at the beginning’. Each line has two main colours. The first colour represents the domain of the study, and the second colour represents the study population. For instance, ‘red colours could represent the elderly population, and cohort studies dark green’. According to Spronk ‘there is no connection between the study type and colour, but they do show a similar pattern’. There is also no real symbolic meaning behind the shapes used in the image, ‘this is more my artistic style and
something I do in many of my art pieces’. Spronk explained that when she started studying epidemiology, she had no idea about how broad the field was. However, she mentions, like this image, ‘all these different colours come together in harmony just like the diversity and the repeating patterns we see in epidemiology studies’. The message Spronk would like to convey in this piece is that although we all ask different questions and do different things, in the end it is all connected. When asked about her views on the relation between art and science, Spronk said that science gives her a different perspective on art because she pays more attention to the smaller details, while her creativity helps her critical thinking and makes her a better scientist especially in seeing the bigger picture.
The artist
About Merve Spronk
Merve Spronk is a General Practitioner from Turkey and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Epidemiology at UMC Utrecht, where she is in her second year. Her research focuses on the associations between a healthy lifestyle and cardiovascular diseases such as stroke. Growing up in an artistic family with an artist mother, Spronk was fond of music in her earlier years but later shifted her interests towards painting and creating abstract art. Despite her love for art, Spronk’s mother, being familiar with the challenges in the field, encouraged her to pursue an academic career, which she also excelled in. Following the completion of her master’s degree, Spronk intends to remain in academia while continuing to explore ways to incorporate her artistic interests.