Online Gallery - Art of Biomedicine
"The Inner Universe: The Hidden World of Biomedicine"
Here are the winning, honorable mentions, encouragement awards and shortlisted entries from our 2025 Art of Biomedicine competition.
The Winners
Quyen Nguyen
(1st Place)
School: United Nations International School
"In this artwork, I painted a droplet, falling from my fingers. Within the droplet, there is a whole universe, vast and endless, with infinite possibilities. I also wanted to emphasize a component of what makes us human: imagination, which births art. If imagination and art didn’t exist, if humans only pursued knowledge and technology for the sake of survival, life would lose its value. We would become biological machines, not humans. The outer space in my painting also represents imagination and dreams."
Bao Anh Vu
(2nd Place)
School: Delta Global School
"My grandmother loves to read about herbal medicine and as a former nurse and farmer, it’s what keeps her connected to her youth and hometown. To me, the hidden world of biomedicine is not just cellular or molecular, it's the history and culture that lies behind it. Biomedicine is able to reach advancements today thanks to the years of traditional medicine passed down from generation to generation. In my family, my grandmother holds all the medical cures that we use, a recipe woven with care, traditional practices, and the wisdom of our ancestors. I believe that the hidden world behind biomedicine is traditional medicine and its hidden lineage where all answers were found in nature, long before clinical science. My grandmother's hobby depicted in this artwork symbolises the connection between our roots and todays modern world."
Quan Bui
(3rd Place)
School: Lawrence S Ting School
"The artwork shows a man beside his own skeleton, playing a piano shaped like a double helix, deep underwater and surrounded by the world of biology. Sound behaves differently underwater, invisibly, just like our cells, our proteins, our body in ways we can’t see with our naked eye, illustrating the hidden beauty of the invisible. The man's hands strike musical notes or our genetic sequencing: A, G, or C, forming a silent score that determines what it means to be alive. The man and skeleton express the rawness, dedication of both artists and scientists, suggesting how humanity shares this invisible music, even if most of us never hear it directly: it's who we are."
Honorable Mentions
Đan Nguyễn Linh
(Honourable Mention)
School: Delta Global School
“My artwork 'Harbor' reflects the relationship and contribution that sharks have provided to biomedical science. Sharks contain the smallest naturally occurring antigen-binding molecules in vertebrates, called Variable New Antigen Receptors (VNARs) and through this discovery, researchers have been able to better develop and understand biomedicine, diseases and treatments. VNAR’s usage in cancer therapy and vaccines are notable, like the Covid vaccines that saved millions of lives. The illustration depicts a shark, and hidden behind its rough outer skin, making up the structure of the shark, are the VNAR fragments, holding the answer that could revolutionize our understanding of medicine. 'Harbor' honours the overlooked contributions of not just sharks, but the animal kingdom as a whole, to our past and future studies of biomedical science."
Pheonix Nguyen-Vo
Honourable Mention
School: European International School
"This artwork is set against a deep black background that reveals the vibrant inner universe hidden within the human body. Neurons, bacteria on petri dishes, stages of meiosis, chromosomes, and the brain are all painted in bright colors, as all the pieces needed to create and facilitate the human body. On the left side of the painting stands a sculpted white human figure that juxtaposes the rest of the painting. The artwork aims to depict the idea that the human body appears to be ordinary, but within it exists a complex and dynamic world of its own that is constantly working, which we humans are incapable of controlling. My art encourages viewers to look deeper into the complex and precise world that shapes biomedicine."
Encouragement Awards
Kim Ha Kuah
Encouragement Award
School: Australian International School
"My work is an exploration into 'The Inner Universe: The Hidden World of Biomedicine'. It reveals the microscopic landscapes that silently sustain human life. I've put together glowing neurons, swirling immune cells, and the branching blood vessels to propose how every cell forms its universe with structure, motion, and purpose. This piece highlights that beneath our skin lies an unseen world of constant activity: communication, defence, repair, and growth. Through my artwork I aim to connect art and science, rendering complex biomedical systems imaginative, alive, and emotionally affecting."
Ngọc Mai Anh Trần
Encouragement Award
School: Scotch AGS
"This artwork represents my long time fascination with the microscopic world. Whenever I look at cells or tiny structures, I imagine that they form their own universe, just as vast and mysterious as the one above us. This idea inspired me to place a cell at the centre of this artwork as a “core universe” from which life expands. Around it, I illustrated DNA, proteins, and moving biological energy to show how these hidden elements quietly build everything we know. Through this artwork, I want to share the feeling that even the smallest things can hold entire worlds within them."
Huong Nguyen
Encouragement Award
School: TH School
"We take progress and innovation as an excuse to put ourselves before all, separating ourselves from other living beings on Earth in pursuit of playing god, just to be played ourselves. We aren’t special, we aren’t even original to begin with, our internal architecture is basic and copied all over in other artworks done by nature. In my artwork, I depict the left coronary artery, pulsating blood and life, one of the most important organs in our body. The red background is to represent our soul, nature, and even love… or it could be a chill dwarf beech tree, sun bathing."
Other shortlisted entries
Ngoc Dan Nhi Vo
School: Japanese International School
"I am interested in the journey of the scientist and their curiosity...they let themselves think outside the box. In my artwork, I focus on the scientist through a propaganda style poster. This poster style has existed throughout history, especially in Asia and it's so recognizable. These posters are used to make people aware of things that they might overlook, such as great thinkers and leaders who shaped (our) national identity and country. For my poster I wanted to include scientists who have shaped biomedicine such as Elie Metchnikoff, Paul Ehrlich & May-Britt Moser."
Ngọc Hà Nguỵ
School: Japanese International School
"This artwork shows my interest in the human body and the amazing world inside it. I was inspired by the world of anatomy and how magnificent microbes and bacteria actually are. I used ideas from Leonardo da Vinci and the 'Vitruvian Man' because he was a professional and studied the body with great skill. The figure in the centre represents balance and structure, while the cells, DNA and microbes around it show the hidden parts we cannot see. I wanted to mix art and science to remind people that the human body is full of beauty and wonder."
Hai Yen Tran
School: Scotch AGS
"My painting reveals a scientist leaning into the glow of a microscope...around him, bacteria drift...this hidden world mirrors an inner cosmos where every cell and organism holds stories waiting to be uncovered. In this piece I aim to reflect awe, vulnerability, and determination: the courage to explore what cannot be seen, and the hope that knowledge can illuminate even the smallest corners of existence. My artwork embodies the theme 'The Inner Universe' by showing that within the microscopic realm lies a world of discovery, danger, and beauty, an invisible universe that biomedicine strives to understand, protect and heal."
Khank Linh Nguyen
School: True North International School
"The human body has many different organs, each has a job of their own to help their host continue to live. But they are not always able to survive by themselves, that's why the immune system is there to protect them, fight disease and keep health safe. In this world, there are many diseases and viruses - I have depicted this in my artwork as different and shapes and colours floating in space."
Khanh Thy Tang
School: Scotch AGS
"This image illustrates the steps of enzyme activity in biological reactions. On the left, the blue shape represents an enzyme with a specific active site, where the red substrate molecule corresponds. The substrate binds to the enzyme, forming the enzyme-substrate complex shown in the middle. During this stage, the enzyme drives the chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy required to break the bonds within the substrate. As a result, the substrate is converted into smaller molecules called products, shown on the right. The products are released, and the enzyme remains intact, ready to catalyze the next reaction efficiently and repeatedly."
Leyla Shah
School: United Nations International School
"I created this artwork with the aim of showing what happens in your brain when listening to music, in particular the release of serotonin. I love music, the beat and the harmony of chords and feeling the base in my heart. I tried to depict this 'science' with art tin my portrait. I used pencil techniques and acrylic paint to imitate the brain 'releasing' chemicals and enzymes, and I tried to use the contrast of medium and color to show how we come alive when doing something we love or are passionate about. Music tends to be something that can bring out the inner world of your brain, exploding in beauty, creativity, imagination, and happiness. This is the inner world of what music is really about: the impact on anyone related to it."
Bảo Hân Triệu
School: Japanese International School
"This is a pencil drawing made by a real person, not AI, and you can feel the human effort in it. The picture shows a girl sitting at a desk and looking into a microscope, as if she is studying something carefully. Her long hair falls behind her, and there is a small hair clip that makes the drawing feel gentle and real. The ribcage on one side represents science and through soft shading I have aimed to created a calm, thoughtful and creative piece."
Yunbi Gong
School: The Dewey Schools
"In my artwork, I wanted to express that humans are only a small part of a wide inner and outer universe. Earth is placed inside a neuron to illustrate the complex networks of life, biology, nature, and humanity. The branching dendrites symbolize trees, showing how nature still dominates, even in industrialization and urban development. Small human figures reading, fighting, and pointing to the sky represent curiosity, conflict, and the desire to discover. A DNA helix connects both biological and cosmic worlds, while the ropes and cotton give dimensional texture. Together, the whole piece reflects the beauty of biomedicine as an inner universe."
Harshak Jitendra Jain
School: European International School
"This artwork shows a person looking through a telescope, hoping to understand the universe, yet unknowingly discovering the one within themselves. Outside, space appears in black and white, quiet and distant, while inside the body glows with colour, energy, and hidden meaning. This contrast suggests that the answers we chase in the outside world often live within us all. As the figure searches the skies, they uncover their own inner universe...full of life, memories, questions, and secrets waiting to be understood. The piece reminds us that self-exploration can be just as vast and beautiful as the cosmos."