What does a scientific illustrator do? They do provide context, focus and human interpretation in the illustrations they produce that photographs cannot, but things become more complex when we look at the professionals rather than the profession. This film goes beyond the job to look at the people who do the job. What was initially just an attempt to find out about the daily workings of their job spilled over and touched upon other issues. Ideas of career and of working one’s dream job and finding one’s calling arose. Related to the career itself, what were their origins, how did they reach this point in their lives and what of the legacy that they leave behind? Art and digitisation are touched upon, and the place of the artist in an increasingly computerised world is shown.
The film takes place at the historic K.W. Neatby Building, which is occupied by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It features Jessica Hsiung, a recently hired scientific illustrator, Dr. Owen Lonsdale, a scientist who does his own illustrations and Go Sato, a retired illustrator who still volunteers at the Agriculture Department and uses the space for his own projects occasionally. I began this project out of curiosity, as I once had a summer job in that building and only heard about an illustrator working on site in passing. My work in that building was confined mainly on one floor, so I set out to learn about the goings-on of another division.
5 окт 2024