BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Darian Goldin Stahl is an interdisciplinary printmaker, bookmaker, and health humanities researcher in Kelowna, BC. She received an arts-based PhD in Humanities on the topic of artists’ books on illness from Concordia University, an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Alberta, and a BFA in Printmaking from Indiana University Bloomington. Darian is currently a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the UNBC Northern Medical Program. Her research project, Embodied Books, facilitates the creation of artists' books by patient community members, with the aim of forming an archive of primary artistic resources on the topics of health and illness.
Darian’s work has been awarded with solo and two-person exhibitions at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre, Alberta Printmakers in Calgary, and C.C. Cazona in Santander, Spain. All of Darian’s artist’s books were acquired by the Wellcome Collection Trust in London in 2019, where they continue to evoke health discourses with public audiences. Please visit her website to learn more: www.dariangoldinstahl.com.
ARTIST STATEMENT: CLINICAL LORE
Clinical Loreexplores our complex stories of healthcare and illness in ways that are enstranging, surreal, and enchanting. Merging eras of scientific innovation with a hint of lore, I aim for this exhibition to take up the visual culture of medicine and re-present it with affirming sensibilities that centre the patient perspective. Although medicine can be a heavy topic, dreamy visions of technicolor and glitter transform a difficult, isolating subject matter into a universal tale that nearly anyone can see themselves within.
Clinical Lore emerges from two collaborative practices. The first is my sister, who is a Professor of Clinical Ethics and multiple sclerosis patient. I layer her biomedical scans, historical anatomical illustrations, and the graphic designs on MRI machines to elucidate her lived experiences with MS. After a decade of artistic partnership, the topic of “illness” has grown to encompass new aspects of life, particularly as a woman. Themes of medical surveillance during infertility treatments and motherhood seep into these visual expressions of disease.
The second collaboration is with two scientists at the McGill University Health Centre. Together, we created artwork that visualizes the potential of their research to improve women’s reproductive autonomy. Mice are central characters in this work, evoking parallel notions of creation with animals in folklore alongside the progress of medicine using laboratory mouse models. The final artworks from these collaborations illuminate the process of medicine from inception to application, and explore the role of art to connect researchers with those who seek healing.
Dr. Darian Goldin Stahl - Clinical Lore
March 2 - April 14
