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oil and resin on plywood (frame: 65.5 cm x 50.5 cm, support: 61.0 cm x 46.0 cm)
Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan AM, PhD, DSc, FAA, FRS, FRIN (b. 1948) is Emeritus Professor within the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland. Born in Pune, India, he completed his undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Science before gaining a doctorate in engineering and applied science at Yale. In Australia from 1978, he was a Research Fellow at the Australian National University, and completed his DSc in the ANU's Research School of Biological Sciences in 1994. Since 1985, his research has focused on exploring the way that insects, especially bees, perceive and move within the three-dimensional world. 'They're beautiful navigators, and one of the challenges for us as scientists is how do they actually do this? What are the techniques these insects take with these tiny brains?' Srinivasan says. His research has informed projects such as the development of autonomous aircraft navigation systems for clients such as NASA.
Sam Leach's paintings typically examine the relationship between science, nature and technology, and are characterised by their modest scale and fine detail. Leach spent a day with Srinivasan and his team at their lab in Brisbane, observing and photographing them at work. Srinivasan says that Leach has captured his 'sense of enjoyment' in this work – which also includes a 'beautifully detailed, meticulous portrait' of one of Srinivasan's own subjects.
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The portrait of Professor Mandyam Srinivasan by Sam Leach was completed in 2014. He uses oil and resin on plywood. The work stands 61 cm tall by 46 cm wide.
The work is a collage of elements that can be found within Srinivasan’s laboratory. Srinivasan is standing to the right of the frame, his body turned towards the centre, his eyes averted. He stands against a brown-grey background which darkens from top to bottom. At the top left, 14 burnt orange polka dots run down the background, a tiny bee, meticulously drawn, sits amongst them.
Srinivasan’s attention is drawn to his work. His head, sporting a full salt and pepper beard, is turned away. His eyes are squinted, his features arranged in an expression of enjoyment. He wears a loose grey short-sleeve buttoned shirt that is open at the neck and pools at his elbows.
His hands are adjusting the back of a curved mirror that sits atop a grey metal table. His left hand, with black-banded watch, grips the inside corner by its lip. His right hand dangles above it. From the left side, a bangled hand reaches out to help him, fingers tucked under to grab the bottom of the mirror.
In the foreground there sits a waist-high table, its surface covered with black and white radiating spokes. On top of the table, shiny grey-metal geometric objects have been arranged.
Audio description written by Carolyn Eccles and voiced by Krysia Kitch
