As an artist, I am my work. It is an extension of my personality. I've spent my life honing my craft and my storytelling. And, as a medical illustrator, I have very important stories to tell. I take artistic license with precise intent. When I hit all the right notes, my art informs. High-impact visual science problem-solving requires not only technical understanding of the subject, but imagination, insight, aesthetics, scientific integrity, sophisticated design and a uniquely original viewpoint. In addition, every time I set out to do an illustration I strive to make it an interesting, beautiful work of art that stands on its own visually, even if the viewer doesn’t understand the subject matter. My work is often appreciated for clarity of message and a dramatic and cinematic use of color.

I am a certified medical illustrator and a Fellow of the Association of Medical Illustrators. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Colorado State University, 1979, and a Master of Arts in Biomedical Illustration from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 1982.
My work focuses on the visual needs of the pharmaceutical and biotech companies for their investor and advertising markets, including large scale illustrations for medical conference exhibitions and event and print collateral. One of my specialties is my compassionate portraits portraying afflicted patients of all ethnicities with dignity and sensitivity. I recently completed the new illustrated FDA General Health Warning Labels on tobacco products, depicting African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and Caucasians with tobacco-related disease.

I am the recipient of the Association of Medical Illustrators' 2014 Brödel Award for Excellence in Education “for outstanding educational contributions to the profession of medical illustration” and the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award for "extraordinary lifelong contributions to the advancements of medical illustration and scientific knowledge that have set the highest standards of the profession and served as an inspiration to others in the field.”

I served as the Artist-in-Residence for Varian Surgical Sciences for 4 years, producing several 3' x 4’ limited edition prints for Varian’s Take a Closer Look campaign, highlighting their role in advancing radiation medicine for cancer treatment of previously inoperable early stage lung, breast, prostate, brain and liver cancers.

My work was selected for inclusion in the juried Art of Medicine exhibition, New York, NY and the juried Dream Anatomy exhibition at the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. Johnson & Johnson honored me with a one-man show of "The Medical Art of Cynthia Turner." I exhibited at the University de Andres Bello Art Gallery and the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile and those works were later included in the permanent collection of the Universidad Andres Bello Medical School. My work appears in Lürzer's International Archive of the 200 Best Digital Artists Worldwide 2020/2021 Biennial Edition, and the 2022/2023 Biennial Edition.

An interview in Muse by Clio, "Inside the Beautiful, Alien Worlds of Medical Illustrator Cynthia Turner" by Tim Nudd may be viewed at https://musebycl.io/art/inside-beautiful-alien-worlds-medical-illustrator-cynthia-turner.

Flora Self Promotional by Cynthia Turner Flora is a fantasy illustration to promote the artist’s creativity and storytelling, depicting the flowering of gastrointestinal microbiota fertilized by the churning gastric environment. The flowering is depicted by petals of Bacteroidetes, Bifidobacteriam, and Enterococcus faecalis, pistils of Lactobacillus and stamens of Enterococcus faecalis perched on stalks of Escherichia coli. The flower itself emerges on stalks of Clostridium difficile. Bacillus cereus, long rod-shaped bacteria in their arthomitus stage attach by fibers to the intestinal epithelium, grow filamentously, and sporulate.

Cancer Assassin Self Promotional by Cynthia Turner The artist sought to create a portrait of the dramatic moment the death grip of a Natural Killer T cell overcomes a cancer cell's defenses, memorializing a moment humanity desires. Cytotoxic Natural Killer T cells are cancer assassins that induce cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death known as apoptosis. Natural Killer T cells recognize specific sites on the surface of cancer cells called antigens, bind to them, and release biochemical proteins that form pores in the cancer cell's membrane and specifically induce the cancer cell to destruct.

Ophthalmic Sustainability Magazine Cover Illustration by Cynthia Turner Ophthalmic Sustainability is a fantasy illustration depicting a lush, fresh and burgeoning botanical environment flourishing around an heroic eye, for an article discussing the greening of ophthalmology to reduce the amount of discarded packaging, disposables and single-use items used in surgery. The image is for the cover and full page inside lead article of the November 2023 issue of EyeNet, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Ocular Nanotechnology Magazine Cover Illustration by Cynthia Turner Like entities from another world, these tiny delivery mechanisms are fascinating in their variety of shapes and structures, and also in their relation to the watery environment in which they are able to move to intelligently deliver their payloads to the right destination. Nanoparticles are the most common nanocarriers for ocular therapeutics because of their biocompatibility and their capacity to be loaded with drugs and gene therapies by chemical attachment, embedment, or encapsulation in the nanocarrier. Clockwise starting at noon: nanopolymer, nanoemulsion, nanomicelle, and liposome.

Cynthia Turner

56 Old Miller Pl

P: +1 (850) 231-4112

Cynthia Turner is IAD member since 2024, with 8105 IAD rating.