Science as art
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson April 07, 2025
Fine arts and forensic science combination enables UD student to define her identity and career path
During a printmaking class her first year at the University of Delaware, Isaura López thought a lot about bugs. The senior fine arts major said that she’s always been interested in the precision and accuracy necessary to draw insect bodies, but she didn’t realize that it could lead to a completely different career path.
David Brinley, professor of art and design, noticed her interest in form and attention to detail, and he told López about medical illustration, a field that requires accuracy along with advanced training in medical science and visual communication.
“You don’t hear about it as a career, especially when you think of careers in the arts,” she said.
López decided to add a minor in forensic science, which enabled her to acquire a foundation in anatomy and physiology. She plans to put it to use doing something like textbook illustration, surgical illustration, patient education materials or courtroom exhibits — all part of the larger field of medical illustration.
Brinley also put López in contact with Katie Yost, who works as a medical illustrator at Harvard Medical School. Yost graduated from UD with degrees in biology and art in 2012 and in turn introduced López to other professionals in the field.
Finding identity at her fingertips
Themes of medicine and anatomy run through López’s art, with purple and deep red color schemes in her series “Histological Embodiment,” inspired by a branch of anatomy that deals with minute tissue structures, and “Healing through Homeostasis,” that explores the state of stability that is the body’s first step toward healing along with López’s role as the eldest daughter in a Hispanic family.
As a Winter Research Fellow, López continued exploring identity, blending the physical identity of fingerprints with her cultural identity, explaining that both elements are unique, unchangeable and inescapable.
“That is how I see my culture and my identity as the daughter of immigrants,” she said. “My heritage is embedded in me, just as my fingerprints are.”
After collecting fingerprint samples from family members, she transformed them into art, interweaving ridges and loops into an abstract composition over which she painted figures representing family members.
“At the heart of the ‘Etching' is a story of struggle and sacrifice,” she said. “My parents came to the U.S. at a young age, and they weren’t able to get a proper education.”
Lessons for life
López is a first-generation college student, and she chose to honor her family because they fought for her to be here.
“Everyone has their own story on why they further their education,” she said. “Mine is to make my loved ones proud and learn from all directions, both academic and from others.”
It wasn’t always easy, and at one point she felt overwhelmed by her workload and lost sight of connecting with other people.
“I went from being this person who would go out and be bouncing everywhere to spending all my time in the art building,” she said.
Brinley offered perspective that helped her get back to herself.
“He called me a groundhog,” López said. “He said I needed to get my head out of my little hole and go outside and talk to people again.”
López said she’ll carry that lesson with her after graduation. Art can be a solitary field, and although she loves her work, she is determined to find balance in life and not just paint 24 hours a day, just one of many ways her time at UD has helped her grow.
“Without the encouragement of the faculty members and fellow peers I have met here, I wouldn’t have ever had the courage to experiment, put myself out there and ultimately have a voice with my work,” she said.
The Blue Hen difference
Coming to UD was primarily a financial choice for López, but now that she is finishing her degree, she knows it was the right choice for many reasons.
“I’m happy that I did so much here, like meeting people outside my major,” she said. “I’m so glad I chose UD because there are so many different people with so many life experiences and directions they want to take.”
She has been an ambassador for UD’s Decision Days, and when she talks to prospective and incoming students, she remembers what she learned from Brinley about getting out and experiencing as much as possible.
“It’s easy to make friends in your department, but you don’t know who is going to be your friend for the next four years,” she said. “So that’s what I tell anybody. Make friends, talk to people, go to events.”
López received honorable mention for the 2025 Lynn Herrick Sharp Award, given to three fine arts students each year in collaboration with The Delaware Contemporary art center.
López, fellow honorable mention recipient Allison Miller and award recipient Angelina McFall will participate in the Lynn Herrick Sharp Award Exhibition at The Delaware Contemporary May 2-June 1, 2025.
Her work is also on view at the Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, "Revealed," through April 24 in Taylor Hall Gallery.
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