Dr. Christopher Adams and his ceramic biologic forms
STONY BROOK, N.Y., November 14, 2006 – Christopher Adams, M.D., Resident in the Department of Dermatology at Stony Brook University Medical Center, whose side passion is creating unusual plant and animal-like ceramic figures that appear like creatures from another world, or newly discovered species, is finding himself in the center of the New York art world. At the urging of friends and those in the art community, Dr. Adams is displaying his creations at his first solo gallery in New York. His “Dangerous Beauty” exhibit, at the Ricco Maresca Gallery in Manhattan, is open until November 18.
Dr. Adams is receiving enthusiastic reviews from the community and media, including a write-up in The New York Sun that calls his creations “too alive and exotic – in some cases downright fierce.” Dr. Adams’ artwork stems from his interest and studies in organismic and evolutionary biology. He is not sure why he creates the sculptures, but when he gets an image in his mind, he enjoys following up by creating it in a ceramic form.
“There’s definitely something inherently gratifying in the process – both in the manipulative aspect of molding an amorphous lump into a delicate, ordered tangle and in the aesthetic challenge of constantly generating new forms,” says Dr. Adams, who has compulsively made the biologic forms for a decade and created more than 1,500 in just the past two years.
Dr. Adams balances practicing dermatology and his passionate pursuit of creating the ceramic figures. He thinks there are clear connections between dermatology and art (sculpture) and cites that both are overwhelmingly visual and tactile professions.
Dr. Adams background in biology and his years of observation of plants and animals, which started as a child, fuels his many visions that turn into ceramic pieces.
Before going to medical school, Dr. Adams spent a year in Madagascar observing the development of a national park system and collecting insects. He spent another year working as a curatorial assistant and illustrators for the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., and another year at an architectural firm specializing in the design of zoos and aquariums. Each year he became more interested in pathology and decided to go to medical school. While attending medical school, he became intrigued with cutaneous disorders and changed his focus to dermatology.
A native of Medford, Massachusetts, Dr. Adams is a Harvard graduate and received his Doctor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2004. He lives in Nesconset.
