Art and science are often viewed in opposition. Yet creative minds have always been responsible for technical innovations the world over: from Leonardo da Vinci’s Renaissance anatomical studies to Olafur Eliasson’s climate activism. Kendra Troschel also believes in these similarities: she worked as a microbiologist for many years and is now a practising painter. “It might seem a little far from art:’ she notes, “But I think there is an innate curiosity shared between the two fields.” Troschel describes herself as a “magpie”: picking, adapting and combining various visual tropes from art history. It’s this spirit of inquisitiveness which drives her practice. “I try to absorb a lot, so I’ll flick through images, movies, poems until I find one particular thing that interests me -a motion or a position of a figure. I’ll think about it and what it means to me: the feeling or essence of it. The rest of the painting is done subconsciously, adding colours and objects that feel right and trying not to overthink anything.