When Cajal was a child he would steal and raise baby birds from their nests. He would also collect baby bird nests and pay his playmates to collect them, too. He would make detailed drawings and notes about them, and when he was done, he would return the baby birds to their mothers. These activities were the beginnings and the psychological foundation for his scientific research. Additionally, birds were important symbols of strength and resilience to him throughout his life.
New Nests and Neurons, graphite and ink on paper, 16" x 20"
detail, New Neuron Nests
Like an earthquake, true senility announces itself by trembling and stammering.
- Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Graphite and ink on paper, 5" x 13"
This image portrays the "branches" of the neurons juxtaposed with an image portraying self reflection near the end of his life. Cajal describes in his last biography written at the age of eighty, his fears of neurological deterioration and his self awareness of it in old age.
It is a page from my accordion book project about Cajal. Each fold out or open page is 5" x 13," and contains a unique drawing. This work is an ongoing evolving work that chronologically through the fusion of Surrealism and Romanticism, portrays his childhood imagination and biographical events from that time.
Other images from the accordion book are featured below from beginning to its current end. This project is ongoing, so other pages will be added.
