George Beatson - 2006
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In 2006 I was commissioned by Glasgow University to produce a work about the pioneering medical scientist George Beatson for the permanent collection of the Hunterian Museum.
As I researched his life and work I was surprised that there was so little visual evidence of a man who had been pivotal in the history and development of modern medicine. As the work developed I became increasingly concerned about making a portrait of an interior life, exploring the context Beatson had worked within. I was interested in making a representation of a man who had been through the wars, and I tried to achieve this by making a rather roughly hewn, naked image, rather than a polished, academic portrait.
I was fascinated by what had driven such a man, at times working under conditions that sounded more like an abattoir than a hospital. As well as his devotion to creating cleaner, safer and more accessible medical environments, Beatson’s immense drive and compassion led to discoveries that would give a greater understanding of cells, how they function and how they transform, opening the door of modern research into biochemistry and cancer.
