Anne Mondro is a professor and an artist, who has made her scientific and artistic worlds collide in her latest collection of sculptures. Using narrow gauged copper wire, crochet hooks and extensive research, she has built a series of anatomically correct human hearts.
Mondro is an associate professor at the School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan. Over the course of a year, she researched the anatomy of a human heart, including time spent in the anatomy laboratory of her university. Using 3D modelling softwares, she learned how to build the hearts to be as close to anatomically correct as possible.
The purpose of Anne’s sculptures is to help us see illness and disease in a new light. She wanted the sculptures to inspire reflection on the strength and challenges that relationships face during times of illness and disease.
“This piece is very personal. I’ve been working with older adults with memory loss and their caregivers. It’s so intense to be a caregiver. When you care for a loved one, the two of you become intertwined. You take on their vulnerabilities but also their strengths. As I thought about that relationship, it was important that these forms be tied together somehow.” – Anne Mondro
In 2006, Mondro developed a course called ‘Retaining Identity’ where art and design students were paired with dementia patients to explore the potential of creativity in healthcare, of lifting the human spirit with art.
See more of her work at www.annemondro.com