Sitting in ‘easy pose’ at a Midwestern art and meditation festival last year, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) predoctoral trainee Luis Schachner began an unexpected journey that led to the discovery of his inner artist and a new role as CLP’s first Artist-in-Residence.

“I was very enthusiastic about mindfulness and meditation,” says Schachner, a PhD candidate in the department of Chemistry, “but there was a lingering question of what happens next? What do I do now that I’m present?”

Spending time with other artists at the festival allowed the young scientist’s creativity and imagination to run free. The experience gave rise to a newfound passion for creating, what Schachner terms “Art Spectra,” exploration of the intersection of art and scientific data visualization.

Becoming an artist

The native mass spectrum of endogenous nucleosomes transformed into an artistic representation that highlights the chaos of biological diversity. The endogenous diversity of nucleosomes – due to differences in DNA and histone modifications – produces an undecipherable spectral signature that, like the man’s mustache, reflects the beauty and messiness of biology.

“I realized that being an artist is an identity that you can step into,” says Schachner. “All these people were working on empowering themselves—using the tools of meditation to create from this place of non-judgment.”

Soon afterwards, Schachner picked up an iPAD® and began to experiment with a drawing app.

“I never took any formal training in drawing, but there were ways to create beautiful things without having to go through hundreds of sketches. The technology was so advanced that I didn’t have to rely on my technical skills to express myself artistically,” said the predoctoral student.

The path to science

Born in Venezuela, Schachner first came to the US to study international relations, human rights and/or the environment at Yale. However, during his freshman year, a last-minute snafu led to an unexpected summer internship at an environmental engineering lab. He enjoyed the experience so much that he went on to pursue other research opportunities. At a successful internship with Genentech in his junior year, he developed a new technique for gauging the quality of proteins used for developing new drug therapies. Ultimately, he decided to focus on mass spectrometry, an analytical technique used to detect, identify and quantify the mass of molecules in a particular sample.

“Mass spec was an instrument with which to tell a story. You would take the biological molecules that you were interested in, analyze them, and then talk about them. Something about it resonated with me,” says Schachner.

After graduating from Yale in 2015, Schachner enrolled at Northwestern to pursue his PhD in analytical chemistry. During visitors’ weekend, he met with Neil Kelleher (chemistry, molecular biosciences, and medicine) who became his first mentor.

“I really loved the campus and the vibe. There was something very special about it,” said Schachner.

In his second year at Northwestern, Schachner applied to CLP’s NIH graduate training program with Kelleher’s encouragement. The program prepares science graduate students to meet the next generation of big scientific challenges through interdisciplinary training and collaboration. The program’s requirement for dual mentors in both chemistry and biology led Schachner to work in the lab of CLP member Yuan He (molecular biosciences), his secondary mentor. In 2017, he was awarded a Gilliam Fellowship by Howard Hughes Medical Institute in recognition of his potential for leadership in his field and his desire to advance diversity and inclusion in the sciences.

“CLP provides a community of researchers with whom to ask questions and learn and collaborate,” says Schachner. “With mass spec, I’m able to answer many different people’s questions. When someone comes to me and are passionate about their project, it makes me feel passionate about it as well.”

The art-science connection

Participating in CLP’s improv-based science communications workshop provided Schachner with another piece of the puzzle.

“It introduced the possibility that we can come together as scientists in more fun and playful ways,” said Schachner. “We can break down the professional formalities between us and be a bit more vulnerable. It was definitely part of what inspired me to think about art as another nexus for scientists.”

Schachner began playing with his identity as an artist, referring to the data visualizations he produced for his scientific papers as art.

Portrait of a black female scientist. The hair was made using the GC-MS traces of melanin.

 

Last summer, when lab work went virtual due to the pandemic, Schachner, together with Kirk Stewart, an undergraduate originally slated to intern in Kelleher’s lab, pivoted instead to collaborating on a blue-sky creative project that blended Stewart’s interest in writing poetry with the postdoc’s interest in art.

The pair discussed philosophy, the practice of science, and how it felt to be a scientist.

“We deconstructed many of the assumptions behind probability and statistics and how we need to think of these concepts very broadly in terms of biomedicine and its intersections with animal research, diversity and the totality of the human experience. We talked a lot about

the relationship between instrument and specimen and embracing the self.

“This is when i realized that there is no separation between ourselves, the specimens and the instrument. We create the instrument and measure the properties of a particle that interest us. It is a very circular thing. We have to embrace ourselves as part of the experiment.

Subjectivity is always present in science.”

Poem ‘Ome’ by Kirk Stewart, composed of the different “-omes” in science and beyond. The ‘Ome’ sound is an ancient, spiritual chant in many Eastern traditions that represents the totality of existence.

Their bi-weekly conversations culminated in a collection of poems and images that represented their unique point of view (see example on the right).

Data visualization as art

“One day, I was talking to a colleague from the lab and giving her some advice because she was not getting the data she wanted. I told her, ‘you’re never going to get the data you want. You just have to look at the data and see what you can learn from it’,” says Schachner.

“She said that I could see things in the data that others couldn’t,” says Schachner. “At that moment, I could see the whole vision of turning data into art. Art was going to be the channel for the inspiration. That very day, I grabbed the first spectrum from my research and I made the man and the mustache [a self-portrait].” (right).

Finding community

Schachner’s journey has led to several collaborations with like-minded scientists.  His latest project, “Molecular and Spectral Perspectives of Plastic,” a collaboration with CLP members Neil Kelleher, Cheng Sun, and the labs of CLP members Danielle Tullman-Ercek and Monica Olvera del la Cruz, and others was featured this spring at the Evanston Art Center’s “reVISION” outdoor experience. The collaborators’ immersive exhibit, that explores theme around plastic waste and recycling, includes 3D-printed sculptures, live demonstrations, prints, projected animations, and an augmented reality game.

“Molecular and Spectral Perspectives of Plastic” art exhibit

 

Schachner will continue to explore mass spectra data as digital media starting points for creating visual art as CLP’s new Artist-in-Residence.

“CLP has always been a nexus for blue-sky innovation and transdisciplinary collaboration,” says Kelleher, Interim Director of the Institute.  “We wholeheartedly embrace Luis’ ideas and hope they will spark even deeper connections with faculty and researchers from across the University and beyond.”

Schachner, who successfully defended and recorded his thesis last month, is working on an Art Spectra chapbook that contains collection of his visual art and accompanying text.

“Art Spectra is a scientific and artistic experiment,” Schachner says. “It’s about dissemination to the community to tell messages that are not only scientifically important, but also socially meaningful.”

Follow Luis on Instagram and Twitter.

by Lisa La Vallee