About the Artist
There is a certain kind of poetry associated with the human heart. “People are aware of the heart, there is a glamor associated with it,” Anil Saxena points out. “But it only has one function. The heart is just a pump.” Kidneys, on the other hand, perform several important functions in the human body, working day and night with far less recognition. “They work in silence, their diseases are mostly silent, and they fail in silence.”
This lack of attention is what drew Saxena to nephrology. After earning his medical degree from Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India, he became a member and then fellow at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. With >75 scientific papers in his field, including three randomized controlled trials, he was later conferred fellowship of the American Society of Nephrology. Though currently semiretired, he has remained a leading voice in nephrology through various leadership positions, including as the Chair of Nephrology Division and Medical Director at Mediclinic Al Twar Dialysis Center and Welcare Hospital, Al Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Saxena has also built a successful career as an artist. While he began with oil and acrylic paintings as a student, he has spent the last 20 years using digital art to perfect his signature style, which merges unexpected color palettes with abstract landscapes inspired by the human body.
“It’s like poetry,” he says. “A poetic idea comes to mind and you have to write it. When I have an idea, I draw an outline on my virtual canvas and decide the colors as I go.”
His digital art pieces have been exhibited and recognized internationally, including at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai and the ERA Kidney Art Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden, and have been featured on the cover of various medical journals, including Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation and Indian Journal of Nephrology.
Saxena helps his patients in need with the profit he makes through his artwork. His work for sale can be found at https://anilsart.myshopify.com/.
On the Cover: Sclerotic Siege (Diabetic Glomerulosclerosis)
“Some diseases can be difficult to picture,” Saxena says. Much of his work serves as educational material, a way to present the nebulous functions of the body in a more soothing, aesthetic form. The digital piece featured on this month’s cover deconstructs diabetic glomerulosclerosis, a chronic kidney disease that progresses slowly and eventually causes kidney failure.
“Sclerotic Siege captures the insidious transformation of the glomeruli in diabetic nephropathy, where chronic hyperglycemia initiates a cascade of destruction,” Saxena says.
The flowing, warped patterns of red and white echo the thickening of the glomerular basement membrane and the expansion of the mesangial matrix, which leads to scarring and the loss of filtration capacity.
“Slowly, the vibrant, life-sustaining nephron succumbs to fibrosis,” he adds, “mirroring the silent deterioration of kidney function in a body burdened by high levels of glucose.”