---
title: Beautiful Minds
date: 2020-02-12T07:00:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/beautiful-minds-03c53ee2-6187-4ec7-9403-8d18c1de1b50"
section: Articles
---
# Beautiful Minds

*February 12, 2020* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Exhibit Presents Artist’s Colorful Interpretations of PET Scans of Mental Illness

*Dementia stain 1920x1080 — “Dementia Stain (Darkness Visible),” acrylic and embroidery on canvas, is one of the pieces featured in the “Neuro Blooms” exhibit. Artist Leslie Holt uses PET scans of people with mental illnesses as inspiration and hopes to reduce some of the fear or misunderstanding attached to them.*

Smears of pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue—the pops of color that light up in patients’ brain scans also adorn the walls of the Stamp Gallery. Each represents a different mental illness: dementia, ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder.

In “Neuro Blooms,” opening today and running through March 28, artist Leslie Holt uses PET scans—nuclear imaging tests that can detect diseases—of people with mental illnesses as inspiration for an artistic exploration that she hopes will reduce some of the fear or misunderstanding attached to them. 

“To me, as an artist, they’re beautiful images, but I also think they really help a conversation about the causes of mental illness and de-stigmatize some of the unfortunately still-prevalent myths about mental illness,” said Holt, who co-directs Red Dirt Studio in nearby Mount Rainier. 

Holt’s pieces on display use stitched embroidery thread and acrylic paints to emphasize the colors that show up on PET scans available online through the National Institutes of Health or various universities, which depict conglomerations or averages of a group of people with a given illness. 

Holt’s connection to the subject matter is personal—her mother was severely mentally ill, and Holt has struggled with depression. Holt’s sister, a neuroscientist, adds another perspective.

“I’m hoping that by looking at these brain images, there’s some sort of solace in science,” said Holt, who noted that college students were a particularly appropriate audience for her art. “Mental illness isn’t just a negative diagnosis—it makes you who you are.”

Click through the gallery below to read more about Holt’s work.

**Sidebar note:**

An opening reception for the “Neuro Blooms” exhibit will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today in the Stamp Gallery, with a talk by artist Leslie Holt at 6 p.m. For more information, visit http://thestamp.umd.edu/stamp_gallery.

- **“Bipolar Stain (Steady),” acrylic and embroidery on canvas, 36" x 36", 2019**
*Bipolar stain steady web*
- **“Dementia Stain (Darkness Visible),” acrylic and embroidery on canvas, 20" x 16", 2019**
*Dementia stain darkness visible web*
- **“Depression Stain (Glimmer),” (detail), acrylic and embroidery on canvas, 36" x 36", 2019**
*Glimmer square web*
- **“ADHD Stain (Calm, Focus, Pause),” acrylic and embroidery on canvas, 36" x 36", 2020**
*ADHD front web*
- **“Neuron Stain (Seepage After Cajal),” acrylic and embroidery on canvas, 20" x 16", 2017**
*Neuron web*

**Topics:** [Arts & Culture](https://today.umd.edu/tags/arts-culture)


**Tags:** [Mental Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mental-health), [Visual Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/visual-arts)


**Units:** [Division of Student Affairs](https://today.umd.edu/topic/division-student-affairs)