DNArt

MJ Morse's microscopic sense of painting

by Leon Nigrosh

After many years of research in molecular biology, MJ Morse decided to combine her scientific knowledge with her talents as a painter, creating colorfully abstract conceptions that show the exciting world of molecules -- exciting even for non-scientific folks. Currently, she has assembled more than 50 of her paintings in the UMass Medical School lobby. These creative works are based on the molecular activity that can be witnessed only through tandem mass spectrometers. However, her works are not stale copies or enlarged facsimiles of atomic activity but instead imaginative and emotionally charged representations teeming with life-affirming spirit.

The paintings are arranged along the walls in an appealing counterpoint, with soft, rounded shapes appearing next to flashing, jagged-edged explosions of pigment. For instance, MI #3 Down the axis on yellow involves several carefully drawn groupings of rounded green shapes as they float in a sea of pale yellow. Next to this, MI #17 View of life encoded within the molecule bursts with energy as heavy slashes of thick, bright colors compete for attention.

MI #53 Edges No. 1 (Red center with edges radiating from it) draws its inspiration from the action of molecules surrounding a DNA "hot spot." With many of her images, Morse implies an allegorical reference to the human situation -- in this one, the suggestion is that though it might not be that easy to reach, the goal is in sight. In paintings like MI #61 Transcription X, Morse attempts to unwind and open up the complex sequence of steps that DNA travels as it replicates its ordered information. She visualizes this activity as if it were a blaze of hot red-oranges reacting with an equally agitated sequence of cool blue-purples.

For the majority of her oil-on-paper paintings, Morse appears to have established her own artistic vocabulary. Yet in several of her large, unframed oil-on-canvas compositions, we can see influences, intentional or otherwise, of some contemporary American masters. MI # 38 The Edge of Chaos No. 2 , in teal & cinnamon with vertical white slash, with its large areas of singular color, immediately recalls the breakthrough color field paintings by Mark Rothko (1903-1970). The palette knife-strokes slashing through a thick impasto of greens and blues in MI #51 Woven architectural elements in green hint of Jackson Pollock's (1912-1956) lyrical action paintings. And MI #42 Entities on a teal ground becoming ordered No. 2, depicting a series of oddly shaped objects falling from above into an interlocking group, shares a similarity with the creator of the computer game Tetrus.

There is much to be seen and appreciated. Each painting presents a look into a realm beyond the microscopic, taking us into a place where the artist's imagination runs freely and invites ours' to do the same. Morse's proficiency in biotechnology and painting has allowed her to present variety of imagery that offers a look into an invisible world. By successfully combining her talents, she has used abstract art to make sense of an abstract science, so that even we can appreciate the joy of discovering the very stuff of life itself.

The UMass Medical School lobby is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Call 856-2000.