Resiliency (2021) · 3:08

Stop-motion illustration by Erin McGee Ferrell, commissioned by Dr. Susan Wehry at the University of New England.

Recovery (2021) · 3:50

Part two of Erin McGee Ferrell’s stop-motion medical illustration collaboration with Dr. Susan Wehry at the University of New England.

Erin McGee Ferrell · Selected projects

Art & Science

Experiments with cells, pigments, light, sound, and animation connect my studio practice with scientific research, teaching, and exhibitions.

01 / Imagining the microscopic

Petri Dish Cell Series

These large mixed-media paintings offer an imagined view through a microscope.

Frozen by Erin McGee Ferrell: gray, white, and dark cellular webs across a mixed-media painting on wood. — **Frozen** · Mixed media on wood · 30 × 40 in (76.2 × 101.6 cm)

Texas River, 2015, by Erin McGee Ferrell, an abstract mixed-media cell painting. — **Texas River**, 2015 · Mixed media · 36 × 36 in (91.4 × 91.4 cm)

Sea Grass by Erin McGee Ferrell, with dark vertical flowing forms against a pale field. — **Sea Grass** · Mixed media on canvas · 48 × 72 in (121.9 × 182.9 cm)

Mixed-media painting from Erin McGee Ferrell’s Petri Dish series, inspired by milkweed and cellular forms. — Petri Dish series · Milkweed exploration

Dark rounded cellular forms in a mixed-media painting from Erin McGee Ferrell’s Petri Dish series. — Petri Dish series · Selected cell painting

White and dark cellular circles floating across a gold and gray field in a Petri Dish painting. — Petri Dish series · River exploration

Gray, black, and white cellular networks in a square painting from the Petri Dish series. — Petri Dish series · Cellular study

Petri Dish paintings displayed together at RE/MAX Shoreline in Portland, Maine. — Petri Dish series · Installation at RE/MAX Shoreline, Portland, Maine

Selected exhibition history

Swanson Reed Contemporary Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky · February 2016
Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Wausau, Wisconsin · Inaugural exhibition, October 2017 · Honorable Mention
RE/MAX Shoreline, Portland, Maine

Art meets biology

Petri Dish cell painting — click to watch Erin McGee Ferrell: Biology Artist

Erin McGee Ferrell: Biology ArtistWatch on YouTube ↗

Four pale cellular paintings mounted on wood, with silver NFC tags along the right edge, shown at Creative Portland. — **White Blood Cells: Resilience** · Installation view, Creative Portland, 2023

02 / Cells and sound

White Blood Cells

NFC tags embedded in the paintings connect their surfaces to sounds of blood flow and videos of white blood cells.

The works were exhibited in Resilience at Creative Portland, May–December 2023.

03 / Color in motion

Thermochromic Color Exploration

Thermochromic pigments allow the painted surface to shift in color as its temperature changes.

Experiments with these pigments informed my Bahrain paintings and workshops in Bahrain and at Turquoise Mountain in AlUla.

See thermochromic pigments in action

This demonstration explores the behavior of thermochromic pigments mixed with oil paint.

Thermochromic painting before and after heating — click to watch Thermochromic Pigments with Oil Paint

Thermochromic Pigments with Oil PaintWatch on YouTube ↗

Two views of the same thermochromic painting: the original on the left and the painting after heating on the right, with yellow areas shifting toward orange and pale areas toward pink. — **One painting, two temperature states.** Left: original. Right: after heating. Thermochromic pigments · 24 × 48 in (61 × 121.9 cm).

Geometric painting with green, blue, yellow, white, and gray bands, from Erin McGee Ferrell’s thermochromic color exploration. — Thermochromic color exploration · Geometric painting

Formula 1 race car painting from Erin McGee Ferrell’s thermochromic experiments in Bahrain. — Thermochromic painting · Formula 1, Bahrain

Explore the Bahrain Formula 1 project · Painting and workshops in Saudi Arabia

More thermochromic pigment exploration

Geometric thermochromic painting — click to watch Thermochromic Pigment Exploration

Thermochromic Pigment ExplorationWatch on YouTube ↗

04 / Light held in paint

Bioluminescence

Light-responsive powders mixed into paint create surfaces inspired by bioluminescence. The paintings glow under black light and retain an afterglow.

The paintings were exhibited in the University of New England gallery window in 2022.

At the University of New England

River to the Sea: UNE Faculty Exhibition 2022
October 7–December 16, 2022 · UNE Art Gallery, Biddeford, Maine

Four luminous green and blue paintings displayed under black lights at UNE Art Gallery in 2022. — Bioluminescence paintings under black light · UNE, 2022

Wide gallery view showing Erin McGee Ferrell’s four bioluminescence paintings in the River to the Sea exhibition at UNE. — River to the Sea · Gallery installation, 2022

View through the UNE gallery window with paintings and purple black-light fixtures visible inside. — Bioluminescence installation viewed through the gallery window · UNE, 2022

Selected paintings

Bioluminescence-inspired painting with luminous turquoise and yellow-green cellular forms and dark rounded centers. — Bioluminescence series · Black-light painting

Bioluminescence-inspired painting with pale yellow-green swirling forms across a blue-green field. — Bioluminescence series · Black-light painting

Bioluminescence-inspired painting with rounded yellow-green forms floating across a vivid turquoise surface. — Bioluminescence series · Black-light painting

Bioluminescence-inspired painting with deep turquoise, luminous yellow-green cellular forms, and dark rounded marks. — Bioluminescence series · Black-light painting

Bioluminescence-inspired painting with deep blue-green fields, pale speckles, and softly glowing circular forms. — Bioluminescence series · Selected painting

05 / Color from the forest

Painting with Amazonian Pigments

My paintings in Tena, Ecuador, developed through experiments with charcoal and pigments from Amazonian plants and rocks.

Knowledge shared by Elías Mamallacta Alvarado and women in Tena’s marketplace shaped this exploration.

Amazon Learning / Amazon Learning Services

Explore the Ecuador project and proposed rooftop papermaking workshop

Natural pigment swatches on handmade paper, photographed during Erin McGee Ferrell’s learning in Tena, Ecuador. — Natural-pigment swatches on handmade paper · Tena, Ecuador

Watch Elías Mamallacta at work

Elías Mamallacta: Kichwa Amazonian Artist VIIIWatch on YouTube ↗

A painting demonstration with natural pigments during Erin McGee Ferrell’s Ecuador project. — Learning through pigment demonstrations · Tena, Ecuador

A conversation about Amazonian pigments beside a handmade-paper notebook filled with color swatches. — Sharing knowledge of Amazonian pigments · Tena, Ecuador

06 / Jupiter Series · 2022

Jupiter Series

Listed in the JunoCam image-processing gallery.

View the series on JunoCam ↗

Six Jupiter Series paintings displayed together on a wall — Jupiter Series · Grouped view

Blue and turquoise atmospheric bands with dark and red swirling forms — Jupiter 1

Pale blue atmospheric bands with green and yellow swirling forms — Jupiter 2

Blue-gray atmospheric bands with red and brown swirling forms — Jupiter 3

Cream and lavender atmospheric bands around a dark red swirl — Jupiter 4

White, gold, and gray atmospheric bands with brown and red vortices — Jupiter 5

Pale blue and gray atmospheric bands with a large plum-red swirl — Jupiter 6

Room visualizations

Gallery visualization showing Jupiter paintings along two walls — Room visualization · Gallery

07 / Illustrating neuroscience · 2021

Medical Illustration & Stop-Motion Collaboration at UNE

My stop-motion illustrations for Resiliency and Recovery were commissioned by Dr. Susan Wehry, M.D., at the University of New England in 2021.

Drawings and animation illustrate the amygdala’s role in the fight-or-flight response.

Art and animation: Erin McGee Ferrell
Commission: Dr. Susan Wehry · University of New England

Dr. Susan Wehry at UNE · Dr. Wehry’s work on resilience and aging

Related art and science projects

Explore Art, Cancer & Collaboration

My Columbia residency — UNE

Exhibitions & CV · Contact me

← All projects & press