{"id":109295,"date":"2026-04-24T14:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T18:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=109295"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:27:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:27:27","slug":"art-student-draws-on-love-of-biology-to-pursue-unique-degree-pathway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/04\/art-student-draws-on-love-of-biology-to-pursue-unique-degree-pathway\/","title":{"rendered":"Art student draws on love of biology to pursue unique degree pathway"},"content":{"rendered":"

The processes that keep organisms alive may be invisible, but they have inspired Neeka-Lynn Devries to create striking works of visual art.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d\u00a0always loved biology in high school,\u201d she says the fourth-year Brock student. \u201cAnd\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0in awe of the intricate processes working in our bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

But studying science beyond high school was never Devries\u2019 plan.<\/p>\n

That changed at Brock. After enrolling in the Studio Art program, she also began taking biology courses as electives. Soon, she\u2019d completed enough credits to earn a minor in Biological Sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually I just loved it so much,\u201d she said. \u201cThe course content just keeps getting cooler as you progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

A conversation with Heather VanVolkenburg, Academic Advisor\/Liaison Officer in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science, opened up unique path that would allow Devries to pursue her interest in biology and her passion for art: an Integrated Studies program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Integrated Degree was what I was looking for, and I just didn\u2019t know it,\u201d Devries says.<\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree integrating Biological Sciences and Studio Art.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I am in biology classes, I\u2019m so inspired by\u00a0the content\u00a0that I feel compelled to make art about it,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel\u00a0both disciplines\u00a0complement each other perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driven by a sense of wonder at the unseen, she turns molecular processes into visual forms through painting.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing how miniscule everything is and that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0going on inside you every single day is\u00a0so\u00a0wild to me. In my mind,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so\u00a0beautiful and miraculous,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to translate what I see in my mind and share it because it\u2019s so exciting. My hope is for\u00a0others\u00a0to recognize how incredible the world around us truly is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devries is particularly interested in plants, which she describes as something beautiful everyone can relate to. Her work draws on everyday specimens, including begonias and orchids to garlic and citrus which have been\u00a0rendered\u00a0in acrylic with meticulous detail \u2014 both as whole forms and at the cellular level.<\/p>\n

That attention to detail extends beyond the canvas. In one installation, she uses metal coils to\u00a0represent\u00a0DNA length, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn one of your cells that you can\u2019t even see, you have two\u00a0metres\u00a0of DNA all coiled up,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0you have 37 trillion cells in your body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devries also worked as a research assistant in Professor of Biological Sciences Fiona Hunter\u2019s lab, where she illustrated mosquito pupal\u00a0structures and\u00a0helped\u00a0maintain\u00a0live colonies.<\/p>\n

Her artwork is\u00a0currently on exhibition in the Visual Arts Gallery at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and at the Niagara Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines until Sunday, May 2.<\/p>\n

The exhibition, Through a Window<\/a>, showcases the work of ten fourth-year students in the 4F06 Honours Studio course and features artwork from their culminating capstone projects.<\/p>\n

The exhibition title refers to the range of artistic practices, worldviews, and concepts that students have experimented with both academically and creatively. While their works may differ in appearance or intention, they are united through the pursuit of seeing the world in new and unexpected ways.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Devries plans to continue her education journey through a master\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t learned enough of it yet,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to continue exploring more and then be able to get better at sharing it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The processes that keep organisms alive may be invisible, but they have inspired Neeka-Lynn Devries to create striking works of visual art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":109296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37,41,1],"tags":[8907,480,384,348,2518],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109295"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109299,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109295\/revisions\/109299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}