by Eli Chlan
🏅WINNER: MOST ORIGINAL INTERPRETATION OF THE THEME
Artist Statement
Grief is the first installation in the Retina in a Cup series and offers multiple interpretations of sensing the unseen. In its composition, the piece is literal—visualizing the eye’s electrical responses to light and its underlying vasculature, making otherwise unseen biological phenomena visible. This is done by transforming data into 3D animation and casting the animation onto objects through illusory reflection, known as Pepper’s ghost. The eye’s electrical activity appears as traces that respond to light flashes, changing shape with increasing brightness. Deep eye vasculature, based on microscopy, is stylized as pulsing and responsive to the eye’s electrical activity. As the traces are drowned by noise and become unresponsive to light, the vasculature struggles against deconstruction, breaking down to its base image components before blinking out of existence.
Beyond the literal, Grief is as it is named—a visualization of unseen grief. This piece addresses my experience of my mother’s unexpected death and how my grief became entangled with my ongoing research and personal expectations. With the eye no longer responding to light and vasculature remaining obstinate despite losing what originally defined it, the piece paints grief with imagery found at the origin of perception. In summary, Grief’s sink full of dishes is an ode to my fellow graduate student and their unseen tenderness.
Artist bio
A vision neuroscientist and artist, Eli Chlan’s art practice is grounded in science-derived imagery and multimedia experiences for science communication and connection. In the lab, Eli investigates the shifting landscape of the retina as it responds to early diabetic pathology through retinal electrophysiology and in vivo imaging. As an artist, he uses science as a medium, fostering its approachability by shaping it into works centering emotional engagement.
Eli’s previous work includes exhibiting at Science Gallery Atlanta’s JUSTICE (2023), translating research on patient autonomy perception within patient-doctor relationships into an interactive installation highlighting hormone replacement therapy during gender
transition. Other recent projects have included program development to re-interpret eye neuronal activity as sound for accessible science communication. He has presented pieces at conferences and selective workshops, such as the Inclusive SciComm Symposium and ComSciCon-Flagship. Currently, he is advancing his practice through
ARVO’s International Science Communication Training Fellowship.
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