Senior, College of Engineering
Digital painting
Abstract
“Art nouveau” style digital drawing. Common chemicals used in modern medicine (name and chemical structure) in the background, and the words “better living through science.” The chemicals are shown in a positive way using design elements and an early 20th-century advertising aesthetic. An androgynous person in the foreground holds an unlabeled pill.
Synthetic hormones are shown as an example of especially complex medications, used as birth control, and in Hormone Replacement Therapy by both cisgender and transgender individuals. They are also used to treat other conditions such as PMDD or endometriosis.
Propranolol HCL is a blood pressure medication which is also used to treat anxiety. It is widely used by performance artists to treat performance anxiety or “stage fright.”
Guanfacine HCL and lisdexamfetamine dimesylate are both used to treat ADHD in different ways. Guanfacine HCL is also used to treat other conditions such as PTSD.
Sertraline HCL and bupropion HCL are both different types of antidepressant. Sertraline HCL is also used in the treatment of anxiety and OCD, and bupropion HCL is sometimes used in the treatment of ADHD.
An androgynous person in the foreground suggests the end destination of a pharmaceutical drug: the human person who takes it in order to improve their quality of life. The character pictured is intended to look androgynous so as to appeal to viewers of any gender, and as a
nod to gender nonconformity or transness. The pill being held is intentionally not labeled, so that it could be anything that the viewer may relate to or project onto it.
The style is deliberately inspired by early 20th century advertising illustrators, such as Alphonse Mucha. By employing an aesthetic originally employed to sell products, we choose to deliberately embrace the positive and transhumanist power of modern medicine.