Pinar Yoldas: An Artistic Exploration of Neuroscience

Posted April 26, 2013 by Eda Aksoy

inar Yoldas is a cross-disciplinary artist and researcher whose work brilliantly unites art and neuroscience. Lately, she has been designing mutations, tumors and neoplasmic organs as an intellectual toolkit to rethink the body and its sexuality transformed by the mostly urban habitats of techno-capitalist consumerism.

Pinar Yoldas and David Paulsen “Limbique”

An example of her work, Limbique is a true art and science collaboration between the artist herself and David Paulsen, a neuroscientist. Neural mechanisms of emotion are visualized through a three dimensional interface that highlights the tangible and spatial aspects of the human brain which gives rise to the intangible and the volumeless. The work is created using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to acquire a high-resolution (1 cubic mm) brain image, then decomposed into multiple 2-Dimensional coronal “slices” that serve as templates for vector graphics outlining the cortex. Next, these vector-based images are used to create high-precision acrylic renderings of each brain slice and anatomical region of interest. Finally, the acrylic pieces are assembled and suspended according to their relative positions in brain-space.

”Our motivation is to bring to awareness some of the lesser known but critically important components of the brain that belong to the constellation of structures known historically as le grande lobe limbique, a.k.a the limbic system. Occluded by the often more voluminous and characteristic gray matter of the cortical surface, these components are situated deep in the brain. Although they may differ in size and shape across species, they are common to mammals, birds, and reptiles. Without these basic components, practically every aspect of our function would suffer. In addition to residing at the center of our brains, Limbique is also positioned at the center of our lives.”

Pinar Yoldas and David Paulsen “Limbique”

Pinar Yoldas, “Fabula”

In another series called Fabula, Pinar Yoldas blurs visual distinctions between male and female, microbe and human, organic and synthetic. Consisting of a series of drawings, responsive sculptures (elegantly caged in incubative jars), and fictional photography, Fabula depicts freshly emerging life forms in a post-human primordial ooze inspired by the nature of contemporary global culture, its mutants, monsters, freaks feeding on energy drinks, big cars, and refrigerators.

Pinar’s work has been exhibited internationally in cities including Istanbul, Frankfurt, Bologna, Torun, Providence, Portland, Berkeley, New Mexico and Los Angeles. Her selected artist residencies include the MacDowell Colony, UCross Foundation,Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Ars BioArctica. Most recently she has received The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) science fellowship for her art-science projects.Pinar holds an MFA from University of California Los Angeles. Currently she is pursuing her PhD in the Art, Art History and Visual Studies department at Duke University. Alongside her PhD, she is working towards a certificate in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Duke University.

Pinar Yoldas “Urogenital Folds”

Artist website: www.pinaryoldas.info

ArtNeuroscience blog: http://artneuroscience.tumblr.com/

Article source: www.pinaryoldas.info

Eda Aksoy

Eda is a Co-Founder and Vice President of Ekavart, an arts affiliate of EKAV (Foundation for Research in Education and Culture) in Istanbul, Turkey. Based in New York as a business manager for Fine Art Auctions Miami, she is also a photographer who has exhibited in London, Istanbul and Palestine. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and Art History from the University of Virginia. Her research interests include the creative processes of the brain and neurological foundations of aesthetic experience.