I chose to reconstruct Santiago Ramon y Cajal’s image of a short axon cell from Texture of the Nervous System of Man and the Vertebrates. Using the Golgi staining method and drawings, Cajal produced a series of illustrations focusing on neuroanatomy. I cannot replicate his work using the Golgi method, but I wanted to reconstruct my chosen image using a medium that is used more for art than for science. I decided to embroider the image on fabric, as the cell reminds me of small threads branching in every direction. To do this, I needed an embroidery hood, fabric, thread, needles, and a pencil, as well as tissue paper, a pen, and a printed copy of the image to practice tracing. By embroidering the image, I knew that I would lose details due to the limited control over thread and fabric. While I would be able to better replicate details in other mediums, I hoped to see if this process could demonstrate the fine line between science and art. Images such as this one were intended to educate, but they can also be viewed as pieces of art. I chose one of Cajal’s images because my dad recently gifted me the book Cajal’s Neuronal Forest: Science and Art because he was intrigued by the coexistence of ground-breaking science and beautiful artwork in the book. Seeing that people today can appreciate Cajal’s work beyond a scientific lens tells me that science and art can go together, and that one does not have to reject the other to be considered valid in their respective fields.
FIELD NOTE 1 OF 3
Date: 2/2/22
People Involved: Myself
Location: My suite common room, my bedroom
Reconstruction conditions:
A quiet and dimly lit room. No one was in my suite or on the sundeck, where I was looking out at as I worked. I had wanted to start earlier when the sun was shining through the window but I lost track of time.
Time and duration of reconstruction:
approximately 40 minutes; 8:00-8:40pm.
Equipment and tools used:
tissue paper, a black pen, a printed copy of the image, tape, my suite door, canvas, embroidery hoop, embroidery thread, scissors, needle, pin cushion
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt:
I began tracing at night, but because I needed light to shine through the paper I decided to tape the image and tissue paper to the door of my common area, where light from the sundeck shines through. My suitemates were gone, so my suite was quiet and the only light in the room came outside the door and dim string lights hung around the common area. I tried to make the tissue paper as flush to the surface as possible, and I took my time tracing details of the image. I used more pressure to emphasize thicker lines, and less pressure for thinner lines.
After finishing the tracing, I placed the tissue paper over my fabric and inserted them into the embroidery hoop. I moved to my bedroom to have more light and began embroidering over the tissue paper into the canvas. However, this was not as successful as I thought it would be and decided to stop for the night.
Prior knowledge that you have:
I have never embroidered before, so that is a new experience for me and I’m learning mostly as I go. I know that the cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the cerebellum, but I don’t know much about the cells within the cerebral cortex specifically.
Reflection on your practice:
I had seen online that people use the tissue paper method for embroidery so that it acts as a stencil for their embroidery. However, I attempted to embroider the cell body and found this method to be too difficult, as the tissue paper tore easily and I couldn’t distinguish the black ink from the black thread very well. I decided to remove the stitches I had made and tear off the tissue paper, so that later I could trace the image directly onto the fabric.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise:
The tissue paper was helpful because I could trace with pen and clearly capture details of the image. When I trace onto the fabric later, will I be able to capture the same amount of detail, or will the thickness and texture affect my tracing?
FIELD NOTE 2 OF 3
Date: 2/11/22
People Involved: Myself and my friend Anna
Location: My suite common area
Reconstruction conditions:
A bright, warm room with sunlight shining in my eyes. It was initially silent, but shifted to quiet chatter as I talked with a friend.
Time and duration of reconstruction:
approximately 30 minutes; 5:15-5:45pm
Equipment and tools used:
canvas, a pencil, a printed copy of the image, tape, and my suite door
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt:
It had been over a week since I last worked on the project, so I felt a little anxious because I waited so long to start again. Like last time, my suitemates were gone and the suite was quiet, but I started in the evening while it was still light out. I taped the printed image and my fabric to the suite door so that the sunlight would shine through and allow me to trace the image. Despite having more light than last time, I had more trouble tracing because the fabric was thicker than the tissue paper, making it difficult to trace details. Soon after I began, my friend Anna walked by on the sundeck and I welcomed her in to chat as I traced.
Prior knowledge that you have:
This was my second time tracing, so I felt like the image was more familiar than last time.
Reflection on your practice:
Although my attention was split between talking and tracing, I did my best to capture details, but again, tracing on the fabric was significantly harder than on the tissue paper. When I removed the fabric from the door, I was worried I lost a lot of the image’s details. I knew I would lose detail when embroidering because I can only do so much with thread, but at this point I saw that I might lose more details due to my mediocre tracing. I decided that when I began embroidering, I would keep the printed image nearby to refer to as I worked.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise:
I seemed to have lost detail in my tracing, largely due to the thickness and texture of the fabric. How can I best minimize further loss of detail as I embroider the image with thread?
FIELD NOTE 3 OF 3
Date: 2/12/22
People Involved: Myself
Location: My bedroom
Reconstruction conditions:
A sunny room turned dark, at which point I had to turn on my overhead light. Taylor Swift played in the background for hours. I sat on my bed with my back against the wall.
Time and duration of reconstruction:
approximately 5.5 hours; 3:00-8:30pm but with frequent breaks
Equipment and tools used:
canvas, embroidery hood, embroidery thread, needle, scissors, pin cushion
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt:
I started embroidering while fairly calm, but this turned to slight stress when I realized just how time-consuming embroidery is. I sat on my bed and worked as I listened to my TV play three Taylor Swift movies back-to-back. I started embroidering while fairly calm, but this turned to slight stress when I realized just how time-consuming embroidery is. At times I felt frustrated because I wanted to use short stitches to capture detail, but that meant spending a lot more time on small sections of the project. My room turned darker as the day went by, and I eventually needed to turn on my lights to see.
Prior knowledge that you have:
As I mentioned before, I have been learning how to embroider as I go, so I didn’t have any prior knowledge. I have limited knowledge about Cajal’s image and its history.
Reflection on your practice:
The issue with choosing embroidery over another method of reconstruction is a limited amount of control over the medium. I can’t make the thread any thinner than a single thread, and it’s difficult to replicate curves and small details. However, I did enjoy using this medium because I think using small backstitches mimics the irregular shapes of the cell.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise:
How could I have better replicated the image using embroidery thread? Would prior knowledge about embroidery have helped me in that regard?
Because my chosen medium prevents some details from being clear, would this construction be considered more of a piece of art than a scientific display?