O
"Forbidden," light,
color, and reflections
created by Dr.
Faktorovich in pink-
gold glass tubes
Contact
information
Faktorovich:
ella@pacificvision.org
by Liz Hillman
EyeWorld Senior Staff Writer
T
he eye is a
magical space
for light,
color, and
reflections,
features that,
among other
things, attracted Ella
Faktorovich, MD, to
ophthalmology. It's also
what attracted her to
glass sculpture as an artistic medium.
"The eye is fragile and yet resilient. So is
glass; it's fragile, yet it's very strong," Dr. Fak-
torovich said. "At the same time, it's beautiful,
but if broken, it's dangerous. That's true of the
human body as well; it's beautiful but sickness
can mean danger."
It was mid-point in her career when Dr.
Faktorovich discovered that her passion for art,
specifically photography, was a natural com-
plement to her work in ophthalmology and
vision. Over time, she learned
about the camera, light,
and color, but she felt
something was missing:
the third dimension. "A
photographic endeavor
results in a two-dimen-
sional representation of
an artist's vision," Dr.
Faktorovich said. "Hav-
ing been a surgeon for
more than 25 years, my
brain and hands are trained to create in three
dimensions."
Sculpture became her three-dimensional
medium of artistic expression, and glass cap-
tured Dr. Faktorovich's passion for light and
color. "I find glass very exciting to work with
because much like surgery, it requires technical
mastery, and like the human eye, it is endlessly
fascinating with the contrasts of strength and
weakness, perfection and imperfection, reality
and evanescence."
Finding artistic expression in
large-scale glass sculpture
AUGUST 2019 | EYEWORLD | 75
About the doctor
Ella Faktorovich, MD
Pacific Vision Institute
San Francisco
continued on page 76
"The eye is fragile and yet
resilient. So is glass; it's fragile,
yet it's very strong."
—Ella Faktorovich, MD
