Victoria Gugenheim: Expressing science through bodypainting – in pictures

Jessica Brown, in a work sparked by the controversy over gene patenting. Much of the detail is inspired by imagery taken from scientific literature – an X chromosome adorns Brown's leg, a DNA helix runs across her torso, and the pattern on her arm is a representation of a real sequenced genome. Through the centre of the helix runs a visualisation of the BRCA1 gene, which has been in the news recently due to Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy (it was a mutation in her copy of the gene that elevated her risk of breast cancer), and the ongoing battle over gene patents Photograph: Victoria Gugenheim

An image from Gugenheim's 'DNAges of Man' project. 'The entire composition shows the timeline of the universe by starting with blackness, symbolising nothingness at the feet, exploding into the big bang on the legs, morphing into nebulae and DNA as the piece evolves up the legs. This then bursts into the previously explained symbolism of reproductive organs and religious ideas and chakras, and then evolves into our discovery of molecules up the piece and across the collarbones. The piece culminates with the headpiece being the ascent of polytheistic religions and ideas of Baphomet giving way to the idea of a phylogeny tree of life, and from both physical and spiritual perspective, the shoulders have the start of Chaos/entropy symbolising the end of the universe. This travels down the arms, culminating in a 'big freeze', one of the proposed ideas of the end of the univese, symbolisded with the hands covered with ice crystals.'
Photograph: Victoria Gugenheim

The human hand becomes the head of a snake. The shapes and textures of the human body often act as inspiration for the resulting art. While we tend to think of our skin as one continuous surface, Gugenheim sees it as a patchwork of perhaps 30 or 40 surfaces, each with their own textures, shapes and characteristics
Photograph: Victoria Gugenheim

The human hand behind the flamingo. This piece, exploring the human impact on evolution, was commissioned for the Ancestor's Trail, an 'annual event combining walking, science and art' in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, based on the Richard Dawkins book of the same name
Photograph: VIctoria Gugenheim

Gugenheim's work often deconstructs ideas to explore their similarities. All Kingdom Come draws on the model's Chinese heritage, using far-eastern motifs and Chinese royal colours, and merges them seamlessly with elements of camp culture, a major source of inspiration in her art
Photograph: Victoria Gugenheim

Lawrence Krauss, assimilated. Artist and scientist became acquainted thanks to Gugenheim's work on the Ancestor's Trail. The professor of physics is well known for his popular book The Physics of Star Trek, which provided the inspiration for this project, transforming him into one of Star Trek's most famous villains
Photograph: Victoria Gugenheim

Lawrence of Borg, viewed from behind. Gugenheim's paintings can take several hours to complete, and the process is intimate for artist and model. The two bonded over a mutual love of the Rolling Stones
Photograph: Victoria Gugenheim

Another view of Jessica Brown, inspired by the BRCA1 gene. A fascination with genetics runs through the work, 'I would implore other people to get their genome sequenced if they can.' More of Victoria's work can be found on her website at victoriagugenheim.com, and you can meet her on this year's Ancestor's Trail, or follow her on Twitter @quirkathon
Photograph: Victoria Gugenheim