Ars Medica

On Standing at Keats’ Grave, Rome, Italy, August 29, 2024

2024-09-24T16:54:44-07:00

Rendezvous with the Senses, a Brainstem's Journey

2025-01-13T10:11:42-08:00

"Rendezvous with the Senses, a Brainstem's Journey" is an art piece that tries to capture our senses embedded in nature itself. As we take a dive into the image, we can gradually discover subtleties such as a nose, a thumbprint, an eye, lips, and ears throughout the scenery. These components are not solitary elements but are rather interconnected. Similarly, we may also appreciate elements of our brain reflected by the insect’s body (brainstem and thalamus) and antennae (olfactory bulb) as a representation of our body's central processor, our nervous system. The title is called "Rendezvous with the Senses, a Brainstem's Journey" because it aims at appreciating our evolution from strict survival to deeply analyzing our surroundings. From using our most primitive brain, the brainstem, for vital functions such as breathing, to using our senses to process and develop meaning from an abstract concept or image.

Hospital Fugue

2024-03-13T10:56:13-07:00

Music is everywhere around us, waiting for us to notice. The sounds of the hospital are like a fugue, a musical form involving multiple interwoven melodies.

I Dream of a Needle / Articulate, Please / When the Screen Retracts

2024-03-13T11:07:02-07:00

The attached three poems focus on existential and emotional consequences of medical practices from professional and personal perspectives. In "I Dream of a Needle," I write as a daughter watching my father undergo a bone marrow biopsy while the oncologist assures me the procedure doesn't cause pain. In "Articulate, Please," I write as a medical school faculty member responding to a student traumatized during her first time "pronouncing" a patient. In the final poem, "When the Screen Retracts," I write as a member of a healthcare team participating in a remembrance ceremony to help families and caregivers of recently deceased patients heal. For nine years, I've worked as the writer-in-residence at a comprehensive cancer center, guiding patients and family as they make sense of ther cancer experiences. The remembrance ceremony stood out as an occasion where I could help all of us find words to express an inexpressible aspect of patient care.

Frictions of Futurity, Curative Tensions, and Artistic Re-imaginings of Transplantation

2023-09-28T10:37:35-07:00