The Department of Art as Applied to Medicine (AAM) has recently shared its work in an exhibition at Sonoma State University’s University Art Gallery, inviting visitors to consider the human body through both artistic and medical perspectives. In Vivo: Within the Living, on view through March 14, brings together artwork and medical imagery that examine the body’s vulnerability while highlighting themes of resilience, empathy, healing, and transformation.
Central to the exhibition are medical portrait works connected to philanthropist and cancer patient Richard C. Colton Jr. The project was developed in collaboration with the Richard C. Colton Jr. Foundation, faculty and graduate students from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Art as Applied to Medicine, and the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives.
The exhibition opened Feb. 5 with a reception led by chief curator and artist Taryn Möller Nicoll, alongside assistant curators Emma McKillips and Nicola Morasch, both students at Sonoma State. The following day, Professor Jennifer E. Fairman, Director of Production At AAM, delivered a curator’s talk titled Drawn from Life: Visualizing Medicine and Healing, which explored the role of visual art in medical education and patient care.
Several works stem from Nicoll’s firsthand observations of Colton’s surgeries at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. While in the operating room, she documented procedures through sketches and photographs, later transforming those studies into large-scale paintings.
The exhibition is rooted in the idea that the human body represents a shared point of connection. By bringing together artists, medical illustrators, and scientists, In Vivo highlights the overlap between disciplines that are often considered separate. Both fields demand technical expertise while ultimately serving human wellbeing.
Works by both AAM faculty and graduate students on display range from scientific illustrations created for medical journals to digital animations, documentary portraits, and prosthetic devices developed to restore both function and physical form. By relocating materials typically found in laboratories and medical schools into a gallery setting, the exhibition encourages viewers to see medical imagery not only as scientific documentation but also as a form of human storytelling.
The curatorial approach moves from individual experience toward broader human themes, emphasizing how illness, care, and healing are shared realities that transcend social and cultural boundaries.
In addition to presenting interdisciplinary work, the exhibition also offers students insight into the diverse possibilities within an art education. By showcasing careers that intersect with science, medicine, and technology, the show illustrates how artistic training can lead to impactful and unconventional professional paths.