Svetlana Swinimer’s “Brain Matters” artwork allows viewers to see how the brain changes with Parkinson’s disease.Patients, visitors and staff at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) can now experience what it might be like to float through the human brain, thanks to a unique collaboration between local artist Svetlana Swinimer and neuroscientist Dr. Michael Schlossmacher.

The two were paired up through the TRIAS Art and Science Residency, a partnership between the Ottawa Art Gallery and TOH.

The artwork, which is made of coloured glass and mirrors inside a series of boxes, is installed near the main entrance of TOH’s General Campus, across from the information desk. The different boxes illustrate how the brain changes with Parkinson’s disease.

“My art aims to use new visual languages and meanings to make the invisible visible, and to bring a sense of wonder and understanding so that people can relate anew to healing experiences, the meaning of living and dying, and the role of art,” said Swinimer.

Svetlana Swinimer displays artwork she created through the TRIAS Art and Science Residency.“Our group was honoured to meet with Svetlana and experience her enthusiasm in combining the output of some of our brain research with her artistic interpretation,” said Dr. Michael Schlossmacher, Director of Neuroscience at TOH and professor at uOttawa. “Her creativity, drive and innovative approach inspired us. Art is to stop us, to make us explore, to touch us, to encourage us to think differently, to inspire, and to enrich our lives!”

The TRIAS Art Prize is a juried art competition that intersects art, science, medicine, and community. It is part of the Creative Wellbeing project, a city-building partnership with a vision to add artistic expression to the healthcare experience and to build awareness across Ottawa of the unique relationship between art and science as it relates to healthcare.

Ottawa residents Jennifer Toby and Dr. François Auclair, who have been integral to Creative Wellbeing since its inception, created the inaugural TRIAS Art Prize in 2022. Learn more about TRIAS, including TRIAS Indigenous and Inuit Healing Art Award and the TRIAS Art as Healing Award. Altogether, five pieces of TRIAS artwork are now on display at TOH’s General Campus. They will eventually be moved to TOH’s new campus.

“Our group was honoured to meet with Svetlana and experience her enthusiasm in combining the output of some of our brain research with her artistic interpretation,” said Dr. Michael Schlossmacher.Funding for the TRIAS Art Prize was provided by the North Star Foundation. The Indigenous and Inuit Art is Healing Award was supported by the Lawson Foundation.

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.