I think I may have already shared that something that particularly interests me for this project – and in my wider work – is the metaphors we use to explain things. Some of these metaphors are so deeply engrained in our language that we no longer even notice they are metaphors. However, when you are an outsider trying to understand something new, the metaphors somehow stand out much more clearly. That’s one of the things I particularly enjoy about working with scientific themes as a non-scientist – the metaphors tend to stand out loud and clear.

One of the principle ways that I am approaching this work is to identify some of the key metaphors that explain cancer as part of a living ecology and the processes that form part of that ecology. That’s why it has been such a joy to be able to talk to the researchers who are doing this work, and not just read scientific paperwork. Although research papers do also contain many useful metaphorical ways of describing their content, I tend to find the richest language when in conversation face to face where we can explore the ideas that emerge in more detail and I can follow particular paths to see where they lead. The wonderful Professor Sir Mel Greaves, who I have been lucky enough to speak to as part of this project, observed that he finds he uses metaphor extensively when talking to a lay audience as he finds this is a most effective way to convey his ideas with real impact.

My hypothesis is that using these metaphors in my artwork will also communicate some complex or unfamiliar ideas more intuitively. That’s where I’m headed with this work and many of the following posts will be based around the metaphors that I’m interested in understanding and pursuing.