Radiography as Art: Laura Splan's "X-Ray Visions and Morphine Dreams"

Laura Splan is a mixed media artist based in New York City. Some of her works include a scarf knit with IV tubing which connects to the dorsal venous network of the wearer's hand, another is hooked yarn wall hangings of micro-organisms like anthrax and E. coli. In an attempt to produce something both beautiful and disturbing, her work depicts anatomical and biomedical imagery through craft mediums like crochet and knitting. She uses her own blood and skin in many of her paintings and photographs. The viewer experiences the duality in her work, comforted by the familiar image of a doily while simultaneously unsettled by the biological gore (Splan, 2009).

In 2005, Splan produced the work "X-Ray Visions and Morphine Dreams". The work consists of three backlit printed acrylic images. The images are actually digital collages created from found radiographs from the internet and medical books. The body parts taken from the radiographs make up domestic objets; a chair, pillows, and a table. Splan drew the title from the story of Bertha Roentgen, Wilhelm's wife, who supposedly developed hypochondria in her later years. According to the story, Wilhelm gave Bertha multiple injections of morphine daily to deal with the disease (Splan, 2005).

Splan's Slipcover (2005) depicts a side chair. The chair legs are each made from the tibia and fibula of a child. The seat cushion made of a barium and air filled colon. The side rails of the back are made from a section of the vertebral column. The back rails are made from the phlanges of the hand. The chair appears to be covered by a fabric slipcover.

Slipcover (Splan, 2005).

Splan's Pillow Shams (2005) is composed of pillow shams filled with barium and air filled colons. The pillow shams feature embroidered scalloped edges, mimicking the haustra of the large intestine .

Pillow Shams (Splan, 2005).

Splan's Tablecloth (2005) depicts a tabletop created from an elliptical cutout of a skull, supported by legs composed of the phalanges of the hand. The table is covered with a tablecloth with a decorative edging.

Tablecloth (Splan, 2005).

These images depict human anatomy covered in decorative fabric instead of flesh. The materials typically used to construct furniture are replaced with comparable biological tissues. Wood is replaced with long bones and thoracic vertebrae, a marble table top replaced with skull bones, and cotton stuffing replaced with a distended colon. 


The images at first glance, are black and white pictures of objects we see everyday, but a second glance reveals things that most see much less often. These images might be creepy to a layperson, but to a medical imaging professional, these images are familiar shapes beautifully rearranged.

You can see "X-Ray Visions and Morphine Dreams" and Splan's other works on her website.

Splan, L. (2005). X-Ray Visions and Morphine Dreams. Retrieved from http://www.laurasplan.com/projects/xray_visions.html

Splan, L. (2009). Laura Splan. Retrieved from http://www.laurasplan.com/index.html