Blooming X-Rays

I was intrigued recently when I heard about an artist and her novel approach to recycling. Julia Barello first starting out making jewelry and displaying it on an X-ray attached to a light box. But before long, she had moved on to turning the X-ray film itself into sculpture.

Mounted on steel pins as multi-piece installations, these works are not immediately recognizable for what they are...but closer inspection reveals the shading, and the change between opaque and translucent areas. These are real X-rays!

Initially, every piece was cut by hand, with Xacto knives, and fittingly, scalpels. Now they are laser-cut especially for her at a special facility.

Julia could easily have used acetate sheets and achieved a similar effect, but she felt it was important to 'see' the body on the X-rays. Once you realize what you are looking at, you're at once fascinated, and perhaps even a bit awed, that someone would turn this particular medium into art.

The installations measure from a few feet up to 15 feet across, and Julia uses varying lengths of pins to achieve a layered effect. Attaching each 'flower" at only one point causes them to move gently when people pass.




Now that hospitals are moving towards digital imaging, Julia's concern is that at some point, she will no longer have access to her medium. But for now, we can all enjoy her new way of recycling...and a great way to permanently add flowers to your environment!


Here's one of her great jewelry pieces...

















See some of Bloomers Floral Designs real florals here