Anatomy, an interest in the brain, histology, the way organic shapes and patterns are repeated in nature and in other life forms have been recurring motifs in Modrak’s work for over three decades. Her work is indebted to science and the observation of the physical and natural world, though differs from scientific inquiry in that it provides a three-dimensional, personal, emotional interpretation of phenomena and experience. From the beginning, humans have sought ways to record their experience in tangible form and leave testimony that their lives mattered. From Stonehenge to Altamira to Instagram, humans have memorialized the time in which they find themselves.

Earlier painted bas-reliefs such as Circe and Dionysus reinterpreted creation and hero myths and immersed elements from those stories into bodily tissues. In the myth of Circe, Odysseus and his companions are turned into swine and reside in an enormous breast. Dionysus takes the form of an implanted embryo in the thigh of Zeus, enmeshed in a landscape of bone marrow.

The Judges, included in Modrak’s thesis show at the former San Francisco Art Institute, explores the nature of judgement in the form of three faces embedded in the backside of a human body. When the late, extraordinary Rene di Rosa purchased the work for his collection, he stated “it’s bad enough to be judged by one person, let alone three”.

The Stonehenge sculptures and bas-reliefs were inspired by actual named stones found at this enigmatic site. The work gives voice to these stones and includes two sentinels watching over them and engaging with the audience.

The threads from all of these works are interwoven in Modrak’s sculptures and installations of today. Her continued interest in modern psychology, myths of humanity, biology and neuroscience. The underpinnings of the “fight or flight” response, Jungian archetypes and the collective unconscious, folk stories and creation myths, the physiological components of fear and anxiety, the biochemistry of neurons and neurotransmitters, emotional intelligence, and the complex relationships we have with one another — continue to be source of immense inspiration.

Exhibitions include (select bas-reliefs): Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute.