The Amsterdam AMC Hospital is a hulking architectural monster on the edge of the city, concealing one of the best hospitals in the country. Along with 8 other illustrators, I was commissioned by the local interior architecture studio Opera to bring some life to the space. I was given the staff area where the doctors and nurses have their offices. I created 2 murals, one of 26 m long, and the one shown here, 38 m long, the biggest artwork I have yet created.
The brief was to illustrate the human body and the miracle of life. I had total creative freedom to tackle the subject from a different angle than what might be traditionally expected. I spent the following two months visiting medical museums and libraries here in London, discovering and sketching interesting facts and curiosities. Before long I had built up my own library of quotes and ideas that served as the inspiration for the content of the full artwork.
My original ink drawings formed a continuous 7.5 metre long artwork that was scanned at very high resolution and printed on vinyl stickers making a total illustrated surface of 95 square metres. These were attached to the glass walls of the Amsterdam AMC Hospital staff offices, occupying a long corridor. Different textures such as semitransparent frost and opaque white are used throughout, and shapes were intentionally cut out from the main print leaving the naked glass. The result is a dynamic composition that actively uses the light and changes depending on the time of day. Also, the layering of the artwork changes whenever the doors are opened.
Memories of the Structure of the Universe aims to be a reminder that there will always be a different way to see life – a surreal, lighthearted and above all personal approach to the marvel of being human.
