The first collaboration between neurophysiologist Mark Lythgoe and visual artist Jayne Gouge promotes a new platform in the arena of photographic portraiture. Utilising the technology of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the work creates an extraordinary bridge between what we see and the way we see it. This exhibition was held at The Gallery, Institute of Child Health in March 1999.

Maps of individuality: Functional MRI scans of the brain create images that "light up" when a subject thinks, positively identifying particular areas of brain activity, and are used in the Great Ormond Street Hospital to provide invaluable information about childhood illness. The exhibition presents highly evocative images, in which the scientific compass points to a future when maps of our individuality may be contained in a single image. Functional images of Jayne and Mark's brain integrated with photographs of more familiar images, introduce what is possible today and the implications for the future.

Jayne Gouge is a fine arts graduate and a sculptress, who has exhibited nationally in the past seven years. She has taught in both design and communication, and researched design trends for industry. Jayne's work deals with metaphorically disclosing intangible aspects of personal biographies. Commonly working with a collection of materials including soap, sugar and iron she aims to converge the points whereby distinct familial influences meet with the peculiar. This methodology now inspires the utilisation of MRI technology as a new medium in association with ancestral icons. 

Acknowledgement

Our special thanks to Professor David Gadian from the Royal College of Surgeons Unit of Biophysics at the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital and Siemens Medical Engineering for their support. 

Copyright: JE Gouge and MF Lythgoe