by Greg Miller

When Greg Dunn finished his Ph.D. in neuroscience at Penn in 2011, he bought himself a sensory deprivation tank as a graduation present. The gift marked a major life transition, from the world of science to a life of meditation and art.

 

Now a full-time artist living in Philadelphia, Dunn says he was inspired in his grad-student days by the spare beauty of neurons treated with certain stains. The Golgi stain, for example, will turn one or two neurons black against a golden background. ”It has this Zen quality to it that really appealed to me,” Dunn said.

 

read fill article here: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/you-wish-your-neurons-were-this-pretty/

BY ANNETTE HEIST

Halfway through his PhD program in neuroscience at UPenn, Greg Dunn was inspired to try a new experiment: using the brain structures he was seeing in the lab as the subject matter for his minimalist Asian-inspired paintings.

“In grad school, I would be looking at these images all day, and I was already on an Asian-art wavelength,” Dunn says. “One day I saw some images of Golgi-stained neurons, and I thought, ‘They’re sort of similar to these Zen paintings I’ve done.’  So I started experimenting, blowing ink around on a page. And it looked like neurons to me.”

read full article:  http://sciencefriday.com/blogs/01/25/2013/the-minimalist-brain.html?series=20&interest=1&audience=4&author=

An interview with “neuro-painter” Greg Dunn

web exclusive

If you’ve perused the current issue of Tricycle, you’ll have seen the beautiful and intricate artwork that illustrates our article about the convergence of Buddhism and neuroscience, “A Gray Matter,” by Columbia University professor of Japanese religion Bernard Faure. If these images seem hauntingly familiar, it’s for a reason. They’re of the neurons in our brains! The artist behind them, Greg Dunn, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a doctorate in neuroscience last year. Since then, he’s been focusing on painting in his easily identifiable style: a modern, science-based twist on the ancient East Asian brush painting technique of sumi-e. Like the Buddhist monks who first practiced sumi-e, Dunn grounds the creation of his art in meditative practice—a sumi-e painting, as Dunn and many others before him have pointed out, is a reflection of the artist’s internal state.

Dunn’s artwork was like nothing the Tricycle editors had seen before, and we were curious to find out exactly how he did it. Tricycle’s Alex Caring-Lobel and Emma Varvaloucas caught up with Dunn via email last month to find out more about the neuro-painter’s creative process.

 

Read full interview here: http://www.tricycle.com/web-exclusive/fractal-solution-universe?page=0,0 

I will be exhibiting at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans starting October 11th in the lobby of the convention center!

I will have gold leaf paintings, scrolls, prints, etc. available for viewing and purchase.  I will be in Lobby E on Saturday Oct. 13th, 1-5pm, and Sunday 14th – Tuesday 16th 10-4pm.

Please stop by to say hello if you have a moment to spare.

You can google translate the whole article if you don’t read French. Its so poetically written.

Mais il est une autre dimension de la nature, tout aussi spectaculaire que celles-là, et je dirais plus fondamentale encore puisque sans elle toute la diversité du comportement animal n’existerait pas. Je parle bien sûr de la complexité de nos cellules nerveuses, tant dans leur forme, qui n’est pas sans rappeler celle des arbres, que dans leur organisation entre elles, digne de la forêt vierge tropicale (où ce qu’il en reste…).

 

Full article here:http://blog-lecerveau.mcgill.ca/blog/2012/08/20/beautes-de-la-nature%E2%80%A6-a-tous-les-niveaux/

Found this one randomly while trying to search optimize my web site. Thank you so much for the kind words.  The article is connecting physiology and the brain.

see full article at: http://schoolpsychscholar.com/2012/08/02/the-art-of-understanding-the-human-brain/

The Brain’s Artistry: A Conversation with Neuroscientist and Artist Greg Dunn

Though art and neuroscience may initially seem like severely different disciplines, artists and neuroscientists have more in common than one might think. For example, as Dunn himself proclaimed, “Part of being an artist or a scientist is living your life with the intent to solve a problem: wanting to know more about something that you’re interested in, and allowing yourself to become utterly obsessed and consumed by the problem.” It appears that Dunn has done exactly that, and in the process has produced some captivating pieces of art and compelling scientific theories. The Airspace had a fascinating opportunity to have a conversation with Dr. Dunn about the science behind his art, and the art behind his science.

Ink Wants to Form Neurons, and an Artful Scientist Obliges

Earlier this year I was interviewed by Discover Magazine. They created an amazing gallery and article about my work.  Thank you!

Check it out here: http://discovermagazine.com/photos/03-ink-wants-to-form-neurons-and-an-artful-scientist-obliges