“As a patient, the microscope is on you. You’re the one being observed and judged. It would be easy for me to sit here, as the one holding the mic, to still feel like you folks, as doctors, are the experts. But through my art, I am the one with agency and authority,” she said.
The event concluded with a question-and-answer session, during which participants explored parallels between Lacy’s artwork and the challenges encountered in medical practice. Lacy reflected on the lessons gleaned from art, emphasizing the inevitability of imperfection and the transformative power of embracing vulnerability.
“As doctors, things also break and we’re tasked with putting things back together … but sometimes, we can’t,” said a student, drawing parallels between Lacy’s mosaics and medicine. “What lessons do you think we can get from art—from that process—to make something beautiful out of the broken pieces?”
Lacy took a moment to reflect on the question, remarking that, “Even with the art that you’re seeing next to me”—she pointed to a work inspired by the gastrointestinal tract titled “Relief”— “I often think about the pieces that don’t make it, the pieces that don’t fit. Sometimes, what seems perfect as an individual piece, after some distance, just doesn’t seem to fit right. And I’ll have to let it go. I’ll resist letting it go for weeks because I’ve become so attached to a piece. The sense of loss in art and in medicine is unavoidable. I make all these broken, seemingly random pieces become a whole, yes, but the story and the process behind it is far from perfect.”
Lacy’s “Anatomy Of” collection will be on display in the Given Hallway until March 1, 2024. As members of the community continue to contemplate the artwork, they are reminded of the profound interplay between art, medicine, and the human condition—inspiring health care professionals to foster empathy and resilience in their practice.