Leonora Martinez-Nuñez is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Massachusetts working on membrane trafficking and structural biology of proteins. She studied cell biology and microbiology during her PhD and went to grad school in Mexico at the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada in Baja California, which is a government facility to pursue higher education.
She is currently working on a passion project combining her expertise in science and her passion for art:
An illustration by Leonora Martinez-Nuñez posted on her instagram @radiant_molecules
How did you initiate your passion project?
I started making illustrations during my PhD because I needed fresh and popping images for my presentations and published papers. I kept doing it on the side for other people’s papers, conferences, etc.
What do you do in your passion project?
I combine my passion for art and illustration with my expertise in science; I create 2-D illustrations to depict cellular processes for scientific infographics, scientific textbook figures, scientific logos, and to facilitate science visualization and scientific understanding in general. Recently, I have started to create 3-D scientific art for protein and molecular visualization. Science provides with so much inspiration and I want to put bright colors on it.
What is the motivation behind your passion project? And what goals do you have for this project?
Communicating scientific discoveries is vital to make science approachable for everyone, and at the same time, is important to translate scientific knowledge into a more appealing way for people to digest.
I can explain with words what DNA looks like, but it will be better if I show you a photo, or in this case, a cool illustration based on research about it instead. That is what I want: to make scientific knowledge and scientific discoveries visually appealing for the general public.
If you could create a caption for your works, what would it be?
It is only a theory that the brain is divided in rational or logic side and irrational or creative side. We are capable of combining the two, and arts and science are actually closer than we might perceive. There is so much inspiration in nature and science to make art, that it will be a waste not to use it. It is also vital to translate scientific knowledge into everyone’s lives, knowledge is just worthless if it’s not shared.
What do you enjoy most about working on your passion project?
I like the whole process of finding a concept, developing a sketch, and actually translating the research into an eye catching and comprehensible illustration for the audience. I also really like when people engage with the images I produce.
What software(s) do you use to draw?
Basically illustrator, photoshop, and lately I have been learning Blender for 3D renderings and animation.
How much time do you invest in 2D and 3D drawings? What are some major obstacles you encounter while drawing?
I would say that the longest I have invested in an image is a week, with like 2-3 hours per
day, if you count when I started the research and read things around.
Making a sketch is not really a lot of time, I usually have a doodle and then jump
straight into producing the final illustration. If it is for someone else, I will send the first version to get feedback or comments.
The major obstacles are creative blockings, that usually go away if you step out of the situation for a bit. Additionally, it happens a lot to me that in the process I find that the way I wanted to portray things is not going to work in the illustration, so I have to make
adjustments.
In what way has your passion project benefitted your studies?
I was just able to make better figures for my paper and thesis. It’s definitely helping me with my research as a structural biologist. I do know so many new tools to make proteins look amazing, which is definitely an advantage in the field.
If a high school or undergraduate student wants to pursue PhD studies, what would you say to them?
I would say that it is a great idea, if that is something you really want to pursue. If you decide on doing it, check on the alternative careers once you get your PhD, you don’t have to go to academia, there are great options for an expert in life sciences.
As you can see, Leonora is a very talented and motivated scientist. For more information on her work and research, please check out her website https://www.leonoramartinez.com/about and follow her instagram @radiant_molecules
I hope this blog has been informative to you about the connection between science and art, and the possibilities it entails. We will be interviewing more students in the future to unravel more information and opportunities in the scientific field.
Stay tuned!
inspiring!