PROF Sir Roy Calne likens surgery to art: both require careful planning, skill, technique and familiarity with the available tools and materials.
In both disciplines, the challenge to do better is always there, but perfection will never be achieved, he said.
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Deep concentration: Sir Roy creates a powerful sense of drama and atmosphere of calm in this liver transplant operation. |
"Operating is stressful and painting is difficult. Both involve manual work. But I enjoy the challenge of both,” he added. Fascinated by drawing and colouring since he was a child, Sir Roy has painted intermittently, mainly on holidays for relaxation. His interest peaked in 1988 when he met the distinguished Scottish painter John Bellany, who underwent a liver transplant operation in Cambridge in Sir Roy’s department.
Bound to his bed, Bellany asked for brush and paint when he was taken out of the intensive care unit and painted a total of 60 pieces during his three-week hospital stay.
Sir Roy became friends with Bellany who taught him how to use colours and techniques. He also realised that his perception of a patient was different from that patient’s self-image.
Spurred on by the Scottish painter, Sir Roy focused on his own subject – transplantation, which included the patients, organ donors, children involved in transplants, nurses and his colleagues. He also realised that transplantation was a subject never delved into by artists.
Sir Roy immortalised his patients and colleagues in his pieces, which reveal their strength, bravery, pain and the suffering they undergo, from a surgeon’s point of view. Painting his patients, both young and old, after their surgery also helped Sir Roy to build rapport with them.
Sir Roy subsequently widened his horizon and began to paint nature or anything that took his fancy.
“I can paint what I like. If I needed to paint for a living, I would probably starve,” quipped Sir Roy, who likes a blend of bold rich colours and his style is a contemporary style.He donates the proceeds of his art exhibitions to local charity. He held his first exhibition in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, and then in 2003. About 65% of the proceeds from the sale of paintings went to the Malaysian Society of Transplantation.
Proceeds from the upcoming exhibition in KL will be donated to the UMMC renal fund.
This time around, there will be more than 30 pieces, including his work with bronze.
His subject varies. There are several pieces of nudes, a few of nature and some portraits.
Sir Roy will be holding his third art exhibition here at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in conjunction with the 11th Asia Pacific Congress of Nephrology from May 5 to May 8. After this, the exhibition will be at Shalini Ganendra’s The Private Gallery (May 9 to June 30, where viewing is by appointment only.) For more information, visit www.theprivategallery.com.
This article was originally published in theStar Online.
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