Project Façade

Exemplifying the best of what art can offer science and vice versa, Project Façade both tells the story of patients who have undergone facial reconstructive surgery and informs their recovery.

Working closely with rheumatologist and curator of the Gillies Archive, Dr Andrew Bamji, artist Paddy Hartley used the original personal and surgical notes of patients to create 'digital and hand embroidery sculptures'. Sourced from the detailed record of the pioneering facial reconstructive techniques developed by Sir Harold Delf Gillies and his surgical team during and after World War I, Hartley's artworks embody the struggle to rebuild faces and lives following horrific injuries.

As part of this Sciart project, Hartley worked with Dr Ian Thompson of the Oral Maxillofacial Department at Guy's Hospital, London, applying his skills in ceramics and mould-making to bioactive glass - a new material Thomson has refined for use in facial implants, which is far less prone to rejection by the human body than other materials.

Together, they are developing a new generation of bioactive glass implants, several of which have been successfully used to repair individuals' faces.