Researcher's work is transformed as art

espite hectic jobs and frenzied schedules, there are still some that take the time to enjoy the beauty of life. Sheila A. Mundorff-Shrestha, associate professor in the Eastman Department of Dentistry, recreates the wonders of nature by painting on silk, particularly silk scarves.

Mundorff-Shrestha

For Mundorff-Shrestha, art imitates work, specifically her work that involves research into the microbiology of dental decay. Sound like a big leap from tooth decay to silk painting? Perhaps not, especially if others could see what she sees through her microscope.

Those biological images that she views through the microscope gain new life in her artwork as graceful, colorful shapes covering smooth silk. But her inspiration is not limited to her lab work. She also reproduces such creatures as butterflies and dragonflies in her silk painting. She has even captured what a laser would look like replicated on silk. "Because I conduct research, my curiosity about nature and natural processes spills over into my art form," she says.

Mundorff-Shrestha started creating images on silk 10 years ago after looking for the right mode of artistic expression. While she began by taking classes in basic silk-painting techniques, the researcher in her wanted to try new approaches. She says that a large part of her art involves experimenting with nonconventional techniques and colors, color effects, and designs achieved by the way dyes are applied to the silks.

"If you are painting on silk, you can play to get a lot of different effects," she says, noting that the dyes and the materials produce a three-dimensional appearance. She recently achieved a "stained glass" look on silk by applying a new dye in a variety of ways on the fabric.

Among several painting techniques, Mundorff-Shrestha uses the most popular scarf-painting technique: the resist technique. First, the silk--usually imported from the Orient or Europe--is stretched on wooden frames. Then, the resist, a soluble gummy material, is used to draw an image on the silk. Once the dyes are applied--which come from France--they have to be set with heat, steam, or chemicals.

Lately, Mundorff-Shrestha (who paints under her nickname, "S.A.M.") has been exhibiting her creations through the Irondequoit Art Club, the High Falls Art Gallery, the Schmitt Senior Resource Center, and the Irondequoit Community Room in Irondequoit Mall.

In the future, she plans to expand her art and possibly have outlets through gift shops and out-of-town galleries. For the present, she continues to learn new things and new techniques. "I want to walk before I can run," she says.

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