A veterninary oncology technician in LA who goes by Spike Vain uses her spare time (when she isn't saving animals' lives) to make beautiful and creepy lampshades out of the animal x-ray radiograms taken of some of her animal patients.
This post may include affiliate links.
Besides working as an artist and as an animal lifesaver, Vain herself is also a work of art – she is covered from head to toe in tattoos, and even offers to trade her work for tattoos on her Instagram. Read on for Spike Vain's answers to Bored Panda's questions about her work!
"The idea manifested after seeing a store windows display of x-rays. At that point in time I had my own small collection x-rays and was thinking of ways to display them," Spike Vain told Bored Panda.
"I used a few in hanging pendants with light and realized it created a beautiful effect"
"The unexpected difficulty in fabricating these lamps is finding resources for the x-rays since it is a dying technology. Most facilities that do radiology have converted to digital"
"There are x-ray scanners that can duplicate the film but I don't use one and will not ever use one. I want each of my pieces to be one-of-a-kind and no two alike. If one day I run out of x-rays to use then I will have to find a new format of art"
"One can not show the patient's personal information on the final product. Facilities who produce medical film are legal obligated to retain the films for 3-7 years (depending on state laws) and after that they can dispose or recycle them"
"I've been collecting x-rays, CT Scans and MRI's for over 20 years so I do have a decent amount to choose from when it comes to putting together a theme for a new piece. But I'm always looking for new sources"
"Unfortunately medical film is extremely heavy so just the shipping costs can be a fortune. So now I am trying to find a sponsor or admirer of my work who is willing to support my trip to the UK to collect a couple hundred pounds of old films"
We'd like to thank Spike vain for talking to Bored Panda about her beautiful and unusual work!