Cornwall-based artist Chris Thorn is an engineer, painter and radiographer with an expertise in high resolution radiography which enables him to create X-Ray image compositions or ‘Kaleidographs’.

Born into a family where life in the garden and beyond was of infinitely greater interest than the indoors, appreciation of wildlife took an early hold. Chris developed an interest in sketching and drawing as a youngster, which later became a sustaining part of his artistic practice in later years.

In the world of work, engineering and especially radiographic imaging was to feature predominantly, mostly in support of aerospace and nuclear sectors of industry. Expertise in high resolution radiography has been honed, and over a period of fifty years Chris has amassed archives of significant proportion, examples of which have received national and international recognition. Winning a Wellcome Images award in 2014 was a springboard into wider acclaim with work appearing in publications in USA and Germany. Recently Chris has received commissions to license images for public display. One customer now exhibits a wall display in his restaurant in Chicago.

Chris’s X-ray work has been shown on UK TV on several occasions and appeared in most daily newspapers. His latest creative series called Kaleidographs looks set to broaden public interest in X-rays as a contemporary design feature. The first public exhibition of his new work, featured in the University of Exeter's Catalyst exhibition is entitled ESI Reflections.

Chris was the inaugural Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) Creative Exchange affiliate artist, collaborating with ESI conservation ecologists Dr Richard Inger and Professor Brendan Godley in 2013.

He defines the process of the collaboration as being ‘art reflecting conversation’.

He was invited to interview academics at the ESI about their research into their chosen subjects, and gained insight into their concerns, aspirations and motivations. Through the inspiring conversations with the ESI’s academics, Chris became acutely aware of the pressures on wildlife and the fishing industry, and how ESI scientists are seeking to redress the balance. He then reviewed and reflected on these conversations to conceive his images and select which media he would use, be it electronic, scientific or hand skills, to create original artworks. He created paintings, mixed media, X-ray images and an installation entitled ‘$20 per lb’. The work was then displayed in an exhibition in the ESI Creative Exchange exhibition space.

His latest work Kaleidographs, of which the series of three ESI reflections feature in the Catalyst exhibition seeks to reverse the process of ‘art reflecting conversation’ and instead intends to stimulate conversation resulting from study of his pictures.

Through this work he has created thought-provoking X-ray images from organic subjects; augmenting the beauty of organic material by way of scientific imaging and multi mirroring and combating relative disorder within confines of overall balance. He says of these pieces,

You can view all three pieces by visting the virtual ESI gallery, just click on the image below.

About 'Catalyst'

Showcasing nearly a decade of arts/science collaborations at the the University of Exeter's Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn, Catalyst features new work by twelve artists, all of whome have previously worked with researchers as part of the ESI Creative Exchange.