Art Through Anatomy

Thy Hoang; Photo by Robert Hall

The human body tediously ties together, from cell to organ systems. Grasped by the science surrounding us, Thy Hoang, studio art and clinical and diagnostic sciences student, looks further in her human science studies and sees art pulsing through anatomy.

“I’m inspired to pursue these paths because I genuinely believe that these two disciplines inform and strengthen one another,” Hoang explains. “I’ve always been prone to becoming obsessed over the ‘whys,’ and I found that art and medicine are two very different pieces to the same puzzle.”

As high school valedictorian and accomplished artist, Hoang initially approached Oakland University torn between two paths: the hard sciences she excelled at or the art that allowed her fullest expression. Skimming through the admission applications, she noticed OU offered two boxes for fields of study. Without a second thought, she selected studio art and clinical and diagnostic sciences, noting in the back of her mind that she’d forfeit one passion once her path became clearer. “That never happened,” she says. “I realized that I couldn’t compromise who I was: both an artist and scientist. My goal is to tackle each as if they were my only major.”

“Things Left Unsaid,” by Thy Hoang

Hoang dove into each area wholeheartedly, and that was the moment she realized her struggle to choose was actually her strength. “I had doubts the first semester,” she admits. “There wasn’t a day I went home and didn’t think about how I needed to make a choice.” When she took an anatomy course in the winter semester of her freshman year, everything clicked.

“What Had I Wanted,” By Thy Hoang

Her thoughtfulness resonated in the class, and she was offered a teaching assistant position for the course. These initial inspirations confirmed her perspective: “Learning about art strengthens any career,” Hoang says.

“In the lab, I am able to see the physical human condition in detail, and so I transfer the feelings that can’t be scientifically described — during dissection when you’re holding someone’s essence, their life force — and I put them into my artwork,” she explains.

The unique ability to understand the human condition in science and spirit captures vast audiences. Notably, her series “Telling Asian Stories,” which spotlights the Asian American experience, reached millions of people and even won her the Congressional Art Competition twice. Locally, she was also recognized with the Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors scholarship for her original ideas.

Taking the road less traveled opened Hoang to see each discipline in its fullest breadth, pulling distinct communities together one piece at a time.

“I was told by everyone I knew that this path would not be easy, but I’m not scared of that,” Hoang says. “I don’t believe that anything truly worth doing is easy.”