Auditory Ossicles

"Anatomy is messy. The human body is not filled with neat blue veins and bright yellow nerves; most structures are densely packed and confusingly tangled around similar-looking things. The conundrum of the medical artist is often where to draw the line between illustrating pinpoint accuracy and illustrating a clear educational image. As such, the goal of all my projects and research at UIC is, in a nutshell, to figure out how to make medical information as clear and accessible as possible for whoever needs it. The creation of Seeing Sound, my 3D animation describing the process of hearing (still render of ossicles shown here), became an exercise in figuring out where to draw that line between photographic and diagrammatic. The more I researched the mechanisms of the actions involved, the more complex they became, and the more I struggled to figure out accurate yet simple ways to convey the necessary information. In the end, my final animation struck a reasonable balance, but as with all research, it was a learning process. I have no doubts that my current and future research will allow me to continue to refine these skills well after graduation."