Ansel Oommen

Ansel Oommen
New York, New York, USA

STATEMENT

As a medical technologist working in clinical microbiology, I was involved in the New York City outbreak, conducting SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests on thousands of patient samples to aid in the diagnosis of COVID-19. To process the physiological and psychological stresses of the pandemic, I resorted to a familiar pattern of metabolizing the natural and health sciences as substrates for the arts. In toxicology (what I studied for my first degree), the orange and black color combo is a successful form of aposematism (think monarch butterflies, poison dart frogs, ladybugs) that serves as a visual warning of toxicity to predators. Indeed, the biohazard label, a ubiquitous item in any clinical laboratory, advertises caution and safe practice. By dissecting, excising, and rearranging the biohazard label, I engaged in the process of traumatic reconstruction through collage, integrating memory, metabolizing trauma and grief, and illuminating how elements of public health, mental health, and ecology all overlap.

BIO

Ansel Oommen is a clinical laboratory technologist, urban naturalist, and horticultural therapist-in-training based in New York City. His work combines scientific inquiry and aesthetic meaning-making through hybrid materials such as agar, biohazard labels, and various chemical stains as well as live substrates such as plants, insects, and bacteria. He has previously exhibited at Prospect Park, the School of Visual Arts, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.

ARTIST CONTACT

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The Pandemic Process: Acquiring Active Immunity Through Art

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