NeuArtica

Our first project, A-maze-ing Brain! , is part of ArtPlay New Ideas Lab 2025, a project funded by the City of Melbourne. This project aims to explore how children view their brain in a creative way, with the aim of creating a brain maze filled with these metaphors. For this installation, we are working with children's health advocate, Deanna Carpino, and the childhood dementia community to raise awareness of this rare disease. 

I am a science advisor and primary illustrator for this project. I created an animation of the original concept for the initial pitch, which helped establish the project’s foundation.  Following this, I worked alongside Louisa, the lead artist, to develop the artistic concepts and illustrations for the project. One of these illustrations was the ice-cream poster which acted as a visual aid for children with neurodivergence. I also worked closely with Ya Hui, the lead scientist, to bridge the scientific and artistic elements of the project. 

This project is composed of three phases. Phase 1 (Dream Phase) invites a group of children to imagine what their brain might look like. Following this, they are asked to draw this on paper with a variety of tools, and then create a 3D model of their brain. The aim of this phase is to understand how children view their brains, and for us to understand how to create the rooms for the maze and how to fill it up.

The second phase (Make Phase) invites more children to help us decorate the maze with the ideas from the dream phase. The children are allowed to interpret these ideas in their own way or add new additions. Here the children added prompts and decor that they think other kids would benefit from. The aim of this phase is to get the space ready for children in the next phase. 

The final phase (Show Phase) opens up the exhibit to the public, inviting kids to go through the maze. Here they see all the creations of other kids before imagining, planning and creating their own 3D brain which is then displayed in a display room within the maze.