Radical Elements

Radical Elements
 a SAQA exhibit...

Seeking: A White Mitten in a Blizzard

...is opening this week on Wednesday, May 20 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC!  How cool is that?!! As a previous science teacher and now artist, it sounds pretty wonderful to me.  I wish I could go, as the entire exhibit looks amazing from what I have seen in the catalog!  It will be up from May 20 to October 19. 

My 3D interactive quilt about breast cancer detection and the element technetium will be there!  If you go, flip the switch!

See more about my quilt here.

Opening Today! Seeking: A White Mitten in a Blizzard

Opening Today!
Seeking: A White Mitten in a Blizzard
36" x 22"

Radical Elements
Our physical world is created out of the chemical elements, from hydrogen to platinum to arsenic. For this exhibit, each of the selected artists will create a new work that is influenced by an element from the periodic table. Inspirations can come from anything relating to that element, whether it is a play on the name, its color or the products made from it. Both representational and abstract works are welcomed.

As the second part of the Radical Elements theme, the artists will also be asked to move quilting beyond the usual materials of fabric and thread, exploring the function and decorative properties of different surfaces and stitching materials. This exhibit is the first to embrace the newly expanded definition of an art quilt and will be a signature exhibition for SAQA.

Curator: Jill Rumoshosky Werner
Travel Venues:
1.Cafritz Foundation Arts Center
Montgomery College - Takoma Park
Silver Springs, Maryland
April 3 - May 9, 2014

My work was influenced by the element Technitium, specifically the isotope Te-99m. It has a very short half-life (6 hours) and has stable decay products. It is uniquely well suited for it's role as a medical tracer. Mammograms do not detect cancer in patients with high density breast tissue. This is because both the tumor and the high density breast tissue appear white on a mammogram. It is compared to finding a “white mitten in a blizzard”. Molecular Breast Imaging uses Te-99m to definitively image breast cancer.

Before flipping the light switch, try guessing which nipples have cancer (LED bulbs behind them). Then flip the switch! The electricity goes straight to the bulbs in the same way that the Te goes straight to the tumors and makes them visible with the MBI. The lights will go off after 30 seconds.

I love the symbolism of the materials as they relate literally and metaphorically to breasts: nipples, white plastic milk cartons, and LED bulbs. The circuitry to make this piece light up was yet another layer, all held together on a black screen with embroidery thread. The bra hooks were donated by people affected by breast cancer, either personally or someone they loved. They represent the “catch” in the new technology, that each image provides the equivalent energy as 500 chest x-rays. Not ideal!

And, a catalog is available of the entire exhibit.  It was sent to me about a month ago.  I have read every page and re-read it.  It is FASCINATING!  I LOVE all the work in this exhibit.  A feast for the eyes and the brain.

And the works are listed by order of the elements in the periodic table.  Mine is number 43, and so for once, as a "York", I am not the last page, or the next to last page.  Hurray for the small things too!

Hope you get a chance to see this exhibit!

Radical Elements

Radical Elements

I meant to post this months ago, but I got delayed.  Back in January, I sent out a request for bra straps to several art quilting list-serves.  It is an unusual request, to be sure, and of an intimate nature.  But, I felt rather strongly about the whole theme of breast cancer, and it's early detection, and I just knew that I wanted some bra straps from real people to add to the work.  I got 6 responses.  And one of those was Lisa Quintana. She had been battling Stage 4 breast cancer for many years and graciously sent me a number of her old bra straps.  It was early October of this year when she lost her battle with breast cancer and died. My heart just aches for her family and friends.  She and I had visited multiple times via email, but I had never met her.  You can get a sense of what a wonderful and generous spirit she had by visiting her blog.  Meanwhile, I am left still grieving and numb, not quite knowing what to say or where to go from here.  One thing is for sure, it is never easy to lose a friend.

The quilt.

It doesn't look like a quilt to me.  And, it doesn't feel like a quilt either.   It is supposed to be the definition of a quilt, 3 layers, held together with stitching.  However, the call for consideration stated:

As the second part of the Radical Elements theme, the artists will also be asked to move quilting beyond the usual materials of fabric and thread, exploring the function and decorative properties of different surfaces and stitching materials. This exhibit is the first to embrace the newly expanded definition of an art quilt and will be a signature exhibition for SAQA.

And, from my previous posts, you can see that I am sticking with that concept fairly well.  Today, I will reveal a bit more, but not all.  We are supposed to keep images of the entire quilt until the opening of the exhibit, which I believe is in May 2014. 

I decided to use a black screen to hold all the components in place.  I also am using recycled plastic milk bottles.  I cut many, many circles, all by hand.  They will be used for 2 different purposes.  And, last I decided that the top "layer" of the quilt would be plastic baby bottle nipples.  I love all the symbolism back to mammary glands for this project!

I took the original drawing with all the circles and placed it under the screen, then stamped the placement of the circles with white paint.  The circles that required the LED's got an additional white center placement paint mark.  You can see the LED stuck through the screen here, with it's own little special resistor.

Here are all the LED's on a large portion of the black screen, correctly wired as evidenced by the fact that the lights are glowing with the switch flipped to the "on" position.  Yay!
On the back I used one of the plastic milk jug circles for each LED.  This protected the black screen from my heat gun when I applied the shrink wrap to the electrical connections.

You can also see that the wires stick up rather high, these will be bent to a flat position later.  On the front side, the LED lights are hidden by a clear nipple that has a smaller white plastic milk jug disc inserted inside of it.  While the lights are off, the LED's stay hidden, and when the lights are on, they shine right through the white plastic disc, a perfect translucency.  And it demonstrates the ability to see a tumor through high density breast tissue (possible with the MBI, but not with the mammogram.)

The nipples were fairly easy to sew by hand with a giant doll needle and embroidery floss.  The hard part was that the thread keep getting twisted around and stuck on the other nipples.  On the back, it now looks like this:

I used one plastic milk jug disc for each nipple, even if it didn't have a circuit component.  It helped all the nipples look the same from the front, and it added some stability to the structural components.
And, with the lights on?

Perfecto!

Last, here is an in process shot of the placement of the bra straps, before all the nipples were sewn on.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this project!  I will be super happy to add your name if you desire, just send me a note, or leave a comment.  

Radical Elements, Technetium

Radical Elements, Technetium

Okay, it seems like my first post on this project was just an introduction.  Now I would like to tell you more about it. My element is fascinating!  The teacher in me wants to take a very long side bar to tell you ALL about it, but I fear that I may bore you to tears.  So, I will direct you to the Wikipedia page...if you are interested.  Here are just a few tidbits for you.

1.  It's atomic number is 43, and every isotope of it is radioactive.  That's pretty unusual for such a low atomic weight.
2.  The guy who invented the periodic table, Mendeleev, knew that this element existed even though no one had discovered it yet.  That was in 1871.  So, he left a blank spot in the periodic table for it's eventual discovery.  Smart guy!  And it was discovered!  In 1936.
3.  There isn't hardly any of this stuff left on the planet.  It has all decomposed (radioactively) since the formation of the planet.  Where do we get it now?  It comes as a by-product of other nuclear reactions, waste from spent fuel rods in nuclear reactors.  And it's tricky to get the form of technetium used as a medical tracer. Technetium-99m, has a very short half life, only 6 hours.  So to get it to a medical facility before it decomposes, you have to ship it's parent isotope, molybdenum-99.  And then there are other procedures to separate the technetium from the molybdenum....

And, there is MORE, much MORE!!  Okay, I did warn you I might go off on a tangent here.

Back to the project...
Technetium is injected into the bloodstream and goes straight for quickly dividing cells, i.e., tumors.  It emits low energy gamma rays, which are then detected by gamma ray detectors.  They put one plate above your breast and one below it, and create an image of the tumors, if there are any.  The high density breast tissue appears grey, so it is easy to see real tumors in white (see the middle image).  Also, they don't have to squeeze you with nearly the same pressure as a mammogram.  I think it's about half the weight, or maybe even less.  I would be hard pressed (pun intended) to see the tumor in the mammogram below (left image), all because of the high density breast tissue.

see the research for this image here

For my quilt...
I decided to use a common household light switch.

When the viewer flips the switch, the lights (LEDs) will turn on, to symbolize the medical imaging.  I also wanted to have the switch turn off automatically, so that each viewer gets the experience of flipping it and interacting with the work.  So I made a circuit with a timer on it and turns off the circuit and the lights after about 30 seconds.

This was the HARD part, or I should say, one of the hard parts of the project? The timer circuit has 8 pins.  Why does it need so many?  And, the entire circuit has stuff like resistors and capacitors, and my knowledge of such things has long ago been filed too deeply in my brain to retrieve.  Physics 101, or maybe it was 102? was more than 30 years ago.  How convenient it is that after my rather confusing search on Google, the ex-husband steps in to save the day.  As an electrical engineer, he has all the skills to sketch this out in about 5 minutes, then think and edit for another 5 minutes, and its DONE!  Wow! thank you, thank you!!

I decided to select a population group and represent only a fraction of that population as having breast cancer.  I numbered all the "participants", and used a random number generator to decide which ones would get the lights.  That's why you see the numbers on the circles on this tissue paper sketch.  However, this symbolic act was very disconcerting and troubling.  I couldn't help but think that I would prefer not to put ANY lights on the quilt because we had cured breast cancer.  Am I being a hopeless idealist in this respect?

And, if you look carefully, you will see in a photo above (the one with the light switch cover plate) a tiny label that says Victoria Secrets.  This plan did not work out (as Victoria preferred not to donate any labels to my project).  I wanted to include the labels from Victoria Secrets bras to allude to the 'secret' of what type of breast tissue I have, and others have.  Why would doctors keep this a secret from me?  It just goes to the ingrained paternalistic viewpoints of so many in the medical profession; which is more that a slight irritation to me, it's unconscionable.  If you get well checks, and mammograms, ask your doctor if your breasts are high density or not.  More information gives you more choices and more power over your health!  My doctor did not even know what Molecular Breast Imaging was....sigh.

Last, MBI, may or may not be a useful imaging tool for you.  It comes with risks, as does everything.  However, it should be part of the conversation with your doctor if you do have high density breast tissue.

Hopping off my soap box now, and off to the studio to quilt a little modern quilt with fun colors!
Hope you have a great day!
Kathy

Radical Elements

Radical Elements

The proposal asked for projects related to the periodic table.  Each artist is to select one element to interpret.  And, for an interesting twist, we have been asked to create something using unusual or radical materials in our work.  This is quite a challenge for me because I just love textiles.  It pushes the edge of the meaning of quilt.  We are to take unusual materials and put them in layers and "stitch" them together conceptually and literally.

When this call for entries came up, I knew I had to try.  I used to be a research chemist, then chemistry teacher.  I LOVE the periodic table.  It would be so hard to choose just one element to propose.  Meanwhile, life brought together a confluence of events.

My inspiration for this project...
1. I am reading the Emperor of All Maladies.  It is about the history of cancer.  It is fascinating story full of heavy detailed facts personal stories, and political and science intrigue, all while combating biology.  A perfect combination!
2. It was time for my annual mammogram.
3.  Saw a great TED talk from Deborah Rhoades....Deborah Rhodes: A tool that finds 3x more breast tumors, and why it's not available to you
Except that talk is old now, and her new molecular breast imaging IS available now!  And not used much because most patients are unaware of the type of breast tissue that they have.  Mammograms can not detect tumors in dense breast tissue, it is like looking for a white mitten in a blizzard.  So, how do you detect these tumors?  Molecular Breast Imaging, MBI for short, and it uses a very special radioisotope, Technetium 99m. (Do you know what type of breast tissue you have?)
4.  And last, I know too many people affected by breast cancer, some survivors and many who did not survive.  I am dedicating this project to them all, and their families, and their friends.  

My proposal was accepted!  All that was left was to take my ideas and meld them into a work of art.  I leave you with a glimpse into my project.  This was the stage where I learned what a breadboard was, and how to use it.