Pushing Buttons

(Oil on canvas, 11” X 14”)
Here is a representation of a single heart cell. The texture of the inside is soft and smooth, as seen by the vesicular structures. But from a central black spot, pain irradiates out into the extracellular environment. The Golgi apparatus, the exporting machinery in the cell that secretes molecules, is responsible for this irradiation. The four structures on the edge of the cell act as a gatekeeper. This shows that one painful event can cause a traumatic explosion.