The Zürich 7 by Kristen Lese

During Covid, geologist Kristin Lese took a deep dive into the history of women in STEM. What she discovered inspired her to bring the stories of seven women to life through the visual arts.

Difficult to Look At (Dr. Hermann’s Grid), 24” x 24” metal, acrylic and canvas

The Zürich 7 are seven women MDs who graduated from the University of Zürich in the 1860s and 1870s at a time when the university was the only school in the world which  accepted women students to medical school. Artworks in the show are of mixed media, combining painting, sewn paper, digital prints and collage.

Lese discovered the women in 2020 when the small oil and gas company she worked for dissolved and she lost her job. Borrowing multiple books from the Tulsa City County Library, Lese found their story in one chapter of an obscure volume. She gave them the name, the Zürich 7, and found that this multicultural group of women had traveled from the US, Great Britain, Wales, and Russia to enter the medical school and ultimately graduate. This research resulted in the one-woman art show at TAC, but it involved a few bumps along the way.

Convergence, 18” x 24” Acrylic on paper and canvas

During Covid, Lese entered a contest for Virtual Reality artists that involved making a video which told a story with one continuous line. She used the seven women as her subject and was named a finalist in the contest. She was excited about getting the women’s stories out to a wide virtual audience, but the startup company sponsoring the contest cut off communication except to say that the contest “got lost in the sauce.” “It was a gut punch,” Lese said. “I had to figure out another way to tell their story.”

In 2024, Lese saw the call for art from TAC and about the same time was inspired by a photography exhibit at the Chicago Art Institute. She made digital prints of the woman, and combining sewing and cut paper, she made them into works of art. “I was comfortable with sewing because my mother is a quilter, and I was comfortable with paper because I made maps with it as a geologist.” The resulting pieces are nostalgic, colorful, and touching artworks.

Learn more about Kristen Lese and The Zürich 7:

Website: pendulumdiscoveries.com

Instagram: @pendulumdisco

LinkedIn: @k-lese