v.autumn.ii

Painting Amanda Murphy
By Aaron Crosby, M3

Jackson Pollock once said that "every good artist paints what he is." Amanda Murphy, featured this month in The Body Electric for her outstanding contributions to TBE the last two years, is no exception. Amanda was kind enough to answer a few questions for TBE regarding her painting, her path to medicine, and the interplay between the two.

Two Roses - Amanda Murphy (Oil on canvas) 

I had the pleasure of meeting Amanda for the first time when serendipity had us working in the same emergency room - I on my core Emergency Medicine clerkship, and Amanda on her 2nd year introduction to Acute Care clerkship.  I remember seeing her leaning against a counter in her crisp, white student jacket. She was reading from a large red text, looking every bit the part of student doctor as she squeezed in a little extra EKG practice prior to her first block of exams. I glimpsed her name on the shiny little placards we are all issued by the medical school. I exclaimed, "You paint, don't you?"

Owed to the lab rat - Amanda Murphy (Pen and Marker)

And indeed she does. Very well. Her works seamlessly blend the beautiful with the technical. Her pieces share a dreamlike quality with the work of some her favorite masters, like Jackson Pollock, Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet. Amanda's images draw on a wide range of themes - from her take on classic still-life pieces to interpretations of abstract medical concepts. 

It should come as no surprise that the thrill of creation caught her early on in life. "My interests in the arts were sparked at a young age by my uncle, who is an architect/designer in Santa Monica, CA." This is not to say she always knew she wanted to be a painter. In fact, she had a veritable potpourri of interests and passions growing up. "I actually envisioned myself in countless professions ranging from political cartoonist or freelance writer, to international/humanitarian lawyer." 

There was one thing that was a constant during her education - she would not back down from a challenge. "I recall an instance during my sophomore year of high school when my English teacher asked the class, 'How many of you honestly believe that you will go to medical school?' My arm shot up into the air pretty quickly." So even if she had many different visions for her life, "maybe subconsciously I always knew that I wanted to become a physician."

Represent your city - Amanda Murphy (Pen and Marker)

While Amanda has chosen a career as a physician, there is no denying that she remains as much of an artist as ever. When she is working on a piece, she is 100% focused. "I usually dedicate my undivided attention to a painting, so I prefer to paint alone. I paint in my apartment while listening to the radio or iTunes." For her, finding the time to create is not a challenge once she is invested in a project. "If I get really into a piece, I will stay up all night," she tells me, "even spend an entire weekend working non-stop."

Most medical students find the work of building themselves into competent doctors to be challenging enough, even without the added task of spending extra time and emotional energy on a passion as consuming as art is for Amanda, but Amanda doesn't see her art as a burden - in fact, she views it as being quite the opposite. "Painting is a great outlet for me," she says. She feels both medicine and art have bettered her, as she has grown to have a "greater appreciation for the gift of as well as the mystery of life." She does acknowledge that medicine has changed her art somewhat by making it more intellectual, a change most apparent in my personal favorite of her drawings, the surreal Posterior MI. "The biggest change in my art that I have noticed is in my drawings, she says, "My main audience now is comprised of other medical students, therefore I feel that I can express complex ideas . . . that can be appreciated by my peers."

Posterior MI - Amanda Murphy

The Body Electric thanks Amanda Murphy as she paints and draws what she is - physician-in-training, artist.