IWD Event - Lunchtime Lecture: Exploring Genetic Inheritance through Art

At age 38, artist Jill Mueller tested positive for a breast cancer gene mutation that gives women a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. When doctors recommended preventive surgeries to remove her healthy breasts and ovaries, Jill embarked on an emotionally charged journey to engage her medical experience as a patient and as an artist. Through her collaborative project ‘See Me Through This’ and installation ‘Anatomy of a Choice’, Jill uses photography, mixed-media work, creative writing and family archives to explore the emotional and mental transformations that take place alongside the physical changes to her body. Through this work, she sheds light on the complexity of a choice that lives well beyond the clinical setting.

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Paloma Tendero’s work explores physical and psychological relationships that spring from inherited DNA. Her artwork aims to represent the period of changes the body suffers, working around dualities: between the inside and outside, health and illness and the transmutation from one to the other. By investigating the co-existence between the healthy and the sick, Paloma reflects on the vulnerability intrinsic to the physical shell and its genetic makeup. Her art embodies a contemplation of the desire to celebrate life despite illness, portraying the beauty found within the flaws and errors that may manifest in the human body.
 

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Biographies

Jill Mueller is an American-British interdisciplinary artist whose practice brings together visual arts, creative writing, story, and research. In her work, she weaves together documentary and imaginary worlds to explore issues related to health, our relationship to nature, and how we make meaning of our experiences. In addition to exhibiting in a variety of settings from galleries to hospitals, Jill gives talks and conducts workshops focused around art and health. She holds an MA in Art and Science with distinction from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and is an Honorary Lecturer at University College London's Institute for Women's Health. Her collaborative project ‘See et Through This’ was featured in the Financial Times Weekend Science & Photography Issue and was a finalist for the Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies. Website: www.jillmueller.com Insta: @jillmariemueller

 

 

 

Paloma Tendero is a Spanish-born visual artist who works across photography and sculpture, exploring themes around genetic inheritance, hereditary illness, identity, and cycles of life. Paloma holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts from Complutense University in Madrid and an MA in Photography from London College of Communication, where she won a mentorship prize with her project Inside Out. She has exhibited widely and was selected for several artist-in-residence programs, including Sarabande, the Alexander McQueen Foundation. Recent group exhibitions include “Headstrong: Women and Empowerment” at the Centre for British Photography; PhotoLondon: “Writing her own scrip”; “Body Language” at Messums Gallery; and “A Picture of Health" at Arnolfini Arts Centre. Website: www.palomatendero.com Insta: @palomatendero