Crown’s Inside My Head: A Contemporary Self-Portrait on view at the Aspen Institute from July 3 to September 2, 2013

Artist Paula Crown’s  installation, Inside My Head: A Contemporary Self-Portrait,  will be on view in the Isaacson History Room at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado, from July 3 to September 2, 2013. For the piece, Crown creates a contemporary self-portrait by using technology to manipulate an MRI of her brain.

The self-portrait is among the most prevalent subjects in art history. Typically, it involves using a mirror to capture the surface information which is then selectively conveyed to the audience. With any luck, the artist's internal life will shine forth from these external details.  For the installation at the Aspen Institute, Crown installs two large convex screens, mounted on customized metal frames, which face each other in the center of the space. The viewer—standing directly between the screens—observes the passage of seemingly abstract patterns. However, upon closer observation, these images, with their pulsating accumulation of shapes and forms, reveal the workings of the artist's own brain, documented via a magnetic resonance image (MRI).

The images have been manipulated by Crown in a way that references painterly techniques from the Renaissance to the present, including the use of multiple points of perspective, sfumato, three-dimensional imaging, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Through this process, Crown identifies and describes the intersection of the internal and external, allowing the record of the data to physically build the environment.

The animation has been translated into image sonifications (also generated from the MRI scans). A musical score was composed by Todd Reynolds and Ben Rubin to accompany the in situ installation, creating the sounds that fill the room. Crown's use of these available technologies to amplify and monumentalize personal physiology provides insights into our lived experience. For the artist, it is about getting closer to how the viewer represents and understands the world.

The exhibition has been organized by Chris Byrne.  Installation design by The Office For Creative Research. Video and technical support provided by Factum Arte.

The installation was open during the Aspen Ideas Festival to festival pass holders, June 26 to July 2, 2013.

About the Artist:

Paula Crown is an artist, advocate, and entrepreneur. Balancing family, a career, and a full-time studio practice, she has spearheaded progressive initiatives in education, children’s health, environmentally sustainable business practices, and the arts. A cross-disciplinary artist, Ms. Crown seamlessly employs tools ranging from pencil to 3D printers.

Ms. Crown has facilitated design and art collaborations with sculptor Jaume Plensa; the landscape architect Mikyoung Kim; photographer Walter Niedermayr; and the Aspen Ski Company and Aspen Art Museum on Art in Unexpected Places. She is also currently collaborating with fellow artist Theaster Gates on her sculpture series entitled PERforations.

She serves on the Presidential Committee on Arts and Humanities and the board of The Museum of Modern Art. She received her MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012. She is a principal at Henry Crown and Company in Chicago.

Find Paula Crown on:

Facebook: facebook.com/paulacrownart

Twitter: twitter.com/pahc

About Aspen Institute:

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.