Laura Ferguson’s work has won recognition from those in the growing movement toward restoring the humanities to medical training, to counter medicine’s clinical detachment and foster patient-doctor dialogue. In the words of Dr. Felice Aull in the Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database, “Her striking figures, in motion or in other positions of daily life, emphasize how natural and human is the body and encourage greater acceptance and appreciation of the variety and uniqueness of individual bodies. Ferguson’s art can stimulate new ways of thinking about the body and disability, especially among medical professionals.”
Alice Domurat Dreger, Ph.D., One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal
• http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/DREONE.html
Eloquently makes the case for “unusual anatomies” to be understood as part of personal identity and for society to broaden its definition of “normal.” Ferguson’s work is discussed and illustrated.
Published by Harvard University Press, 2004
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
”The Visible Skeleton Series: The Art of Laura Ferguson, a special section edited by Alice Domurat Dreger, Ph.D.
Includes 5 perspectives on Ferguson’s work:
“Seeing Yourself” by Alice Domurat Dreger (historian of medicine and patient advocate)
“Artist’s Introduction,” by Laura Ferguson
“The Scaffolding of the Self,” by Cassandra Aspinall (social worker on a craniofacial team)
“Reaching Within,” by Dr. David W. Polly, Jr. (orthopedic surgeon specializing in scoliosis)
“Collecting Oneself,” by Dr. J. Bruce Beckwith (retired forensic pathologist and historian of medicine)
Spring 2004 issue, vol. 47, no.2
Published by Johns Hopkins University Press
• http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/perspectives_in_biology_and_medicine/toc/pbm47.2.html
Perspectives articles are accessible on line to individuals or institutions that subscribe to the journal
• http://www.alicedreger.com/articles/visible_skeleton
• http://www.alicedreger.com/essays/seeing_yourself
to read Alice Dreger’s thoughts about the Perspectivesessays
Literature, Arts and Medicine Database • http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webart/ferguson92-art-.html
Art Annotation about Ferguson’s work, by Felice Aull, Ph.D., M.A., on New York University’s “Literature, Arts and Medicine Database”
Bettyann Holtzmann Keles, Naked to the Bone: Medical Imaging in the Twentieth Century
• http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/acatalog/__Naked_to_the_Bone_638.html
“Beyond medicine, Kevles describes how X-rays and the newer technologies have become part of the texture of modern life and culture. . . and offered artists from Picasso to Warhol new ways to depict the human form.” Ferguson is one of the artists whose work is included.
Published by Rutgers University Press, part of the Sloan Technology Series
Yale Medicine: “Portraits in light—artists blend medical imagery into their work”
• http://www.med.yale.edu/external/pubs/ym_au05/chronicle.html
by Alla Katsnelson
Chronicle, Autumn 2005
Bettyann H. Kevles, lecturer in Yale’s Program in the History of Medicine and Science, presented the work of visual artists who had used medical imaging to create self-portraits, at a symposium of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Washington, DC, February 2005. Ferguson's work was featured.
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
• http://www.commed.uchc.edu/medicalhumanities/weblinks.html
”The Division of Medical Humanities, Health Law, and Ethics has prepared a brief, categorized, annotated listing of links which may be of interest.“
Articles/exhibit announcements
National Museum of Health and Medicine:
The Visible Skeleton Series exhibit
• http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/skeleton/index.html
“The National Museum of Health and Medicine is proud to announce that its long-running exhibit, Laura Ferguson: The Visible Skeleton Series, is now available as a traveling exhibit...”
Beyond the X-Ray, Museum of Science, Boston, MA
• http://www.mos.org/doc/1005
Medical imaging technologies ... The Art of Imaging
“Explore the beauty of medical images in our collection of works of art created by doctors and other artists. ... A CT scan can be the inspiration for a series of paintings.”
National Scoliosis Foundation /Forums - Body Image & Spinal Deformity Event
• www.scoliosis.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-1019.html
Laura Ferguson, artist who has spent the past 12 years pursuing an “artist’s inquiry into scoliosis” ... October 23, 2004
Joseph P. O’Brien, President and Chief Executive ...
National Scoliosis Foundation /"Spinal Connection" article
• www.scoliosis.org/resources/spinalconnection_win2003.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
scoliosis artist Laura Ferguson
NCAC Resources Online / Panel: "Images of the Less-Than-Perfect Body"
• www.ncac.org/issues/eventsarchives.htm
Panelists include artist Laura Ferguson, whose exhibition, “Laura Ferguson: The Visible Skeleton Series,” is the occasion for the program; Alice Dreger ...June 12, 2004
The Eyes Have It » 2004 » October
• http://www.leepotts.com/tehi/archives/2004/10/07/laura-ferguson-the-visible-skeleton-series/
A weblog devoted (mainly) to visual communications in the pharmaceutical, biotech and healthcare sectors. Edited byLee W. Potts.
Laura Ferguson: The Visible Skeleton Series.
VSA arts, The Palette
• www.vsarts.org/documents/resources/ artists/palette/palette_spring05.txt
Laura Ferguson: An Inner-Body Experience ... Beauty beyond skin deep. ... Inner-Body Experience Artist Casts Medical Images in a New Light ...
Arthritis Today: Laura Ferguson
• www.arthritis.org/resources/arthritistoday/ 2002_archives/2002_07_08_expressions_ferguson.asp
Laura Ferguson Painter with scoliosis and osteoarthritis (OA) in New York. When arthritis forced Ferguson to abandon her career as a graphic artist in 1989, ...
The Center for Book Arts ~ Laura Ferguson
• www.centerforbookarts.org/newsite/ exhibits/archive/bio.asp?artistID=239
The Center for Book Arts is dedicated to preserving the traditional crafts of book-making, as well as exploring and encouraging contemporary interpretations ...
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ “eMotion Pictures:
An Exhibition of Orthopaedics in Art”
• http://emotion.aaos.org
click “Browse Gallery”
Spinal Deformities: The Comprehensive Text cover artwork by Laura Ferguson, commissioned by the Scoliosis Research Society
published by Thieme Medical Publishers, 2003
“Scoliosis patient uses art as therapy”
illustrated article on JointandBone.org, a website for professionals in the field of rheumatology
March 25, 2003
Penn State College of Arts and Architecture, Robeson Gallery
“Orthopaedics in art exhibit spotlights arts in healing/healthcare”
Washington Post article
Lloyd Grove, “The Reliable Source,” column on censorship of Ferguson’s work by US Senate Rules Committee
National Coalition Against Censorship censorship timeline
www.ncac.org/timeline/2001.htm
The File Room
/censorship/nudityhttp://www.thefileroom.org/FileRoom/documents/dyn/DisplayCase.cfm?id=331
archive of censorship cases
Oberlin Theater News: Dance Performance
Nusha Martynuk choreographed dance piece “Curvatures,” inspired by Laura Ferguson’s images
Scoliosis links
Also see scoliosis-related articles/exhibit announcements above
National Scoliosis Foundation
• www.scoliosis.org
For information about scoliosis, support groups, advice, etc.
www.scoliosislinks.com
Reliable and up-to-date links to many sites of interest to patients
The Scoliosis Association, Inc.
www.scoliosis-assoc.org
“An international information and support organization”
www.iScoliosis.com
Information about scoliosis published by Medtronic Sofamor Danek.
This company, which manufactures medical devices and products used in scoliosis surgery, has generously sponsored the short documentary film “Laura Ferguson: Visualizing Inner Space,” which is part of The Visible Skeleton Series exhibit at the National Museum of Health and Medicine
Other websites of interest
ETAOIN.com Virtual Art Gallery
• www.etaoin.com/vgal.htm
ETAOIN.com features the work of an eclectic group of artists personally selected by it’s publisher/webmaster/designer Gordon Fitch.
National Museum of Health and Medicine
• http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum
“The National Museum of Health and Medicine inspires interest in personal and public health and promotes understanding of medicine, past, present, and future, with a special emphasis on American military medicine. As the nation's museum of health and medicine since 1862, we aggressively identify, collect, and preserve important resources to achieve a broad agenda of innovative exhibitions, educational programs, and scientific, historical and medical research.”
National Coalition Against Censorship
• www.ncac.org
“The NCAC, founded in 1974 and based in New York, is an alliance of 50 non-profit organizations that work to educate the public about the dangers of censorship and how to oppose it.”
Co-sponsor of public program on “Images of the Less-Than-Perfect Body” at the National Museum of Health and Medicine" (see link above)
VSA arts
• www.vsarts.org
“Creating a society where people with disabilities can learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts.”
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Copyright © 2006 Laura Ferguson
1/7/06
