Neoplastic disease

Neoplastic disease is the excessive division of cells, due to a variety of causes, that results in the formation of atypical bodies of tissue called neoplasms. A neoplasm can form virtually anywhere in the body and is commonly referred to as a tumor. Although the words neoplasm or tumor tend to be used somewhat synonymously with cancer, neoplasms can also just as commonly be benign or premalignant as malignant. However, the precise identification of the defective normal process that underlies the disease is commonly very difficult, and certainly so in analyzing the nature of the neoplastic transformation of normal cells*

Maess' drawings examine the life and death of an organism attacked by malignant process in the the context of relationships between various forms of data such as personal documentation and scientific research on

 diagnostic and predictive oncology. Condensed on paper are transformations of tissues, survival rates, pain, anxiety, electron micrograph images and 3D models, all into one dramatic explosion. The intent is not to reproduce the data, but to explore the convulsion of physical and digital space and to create a metaphor for the profound and fragile experience of negotiating the balance between health and sickness.

Maess (b.1982, Warsaw) graduated with a Master’s Degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.  In 2005 she received a scholarship to attend the Escola Superior de Artes e Design in Porto Portugal.  Her  exhibitions include Plumba Contemporary Art, Porto, Por­tugal (2006), Museum Santa Cecilia in Rome (2010), Wroclaw Contemporary Museum (2013) Arsenal City Gallery Poznan (2013) Drawing Center New York (2014) Maess’s drawings have been published in Fukt Magazine for Contemporary Drawing 8/9 and she took part in the launching exhibition at Center of Contemporary Art in Warsaw.

Maess' awards include nomination to Grand Prix FID Prize in Paris (2012) Leipzig International Art Programme in Germany (2014)  Adam Mickiewicz Institute Grant (2014)

http://maess.eu

*Clement L. Marker, Neoplasia: A Disease of Cell Differentiation, Cancer Research vol. 28