In May 2015 I received an email from the Clinical Ethics and Law Southampton Unit, a multi-disciplinary research group that explores ethical and legal issues in health care practice in Southampton, asking if I would be interested in being an artist in residence at a public engagement event entitled: Genetic Medicine: what are the ethical issues? Having never been an artist in residence before, I was interested and jumped at the opportunity to exhibit my embroidered art and engage with the public.
The topic genetic testing in health care was challenging and I began by creating a piece depicting all human chromosomes in 3D with different colours. For one of my other pieces, I chose a well known genetic disease: cystic fibrosis, for which genetic testing is now routine.
The public engagement event on the 16 of January 2016 was really interesting and I learned lots about the ethical issues of genetic testing. I managed to give my first presentation as an artist and not as a scientist.
Halina Bainbridge 