Forensic art first for Dundee

Scotland's first unit of forensic art has been established at the University, in an interdisciplinary project which brings together the disciplines of anatomy and art.

The new unit is headed by Dr Caroline Wilkinson, who is attached to the unit of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology in the School of Life Sciences. She is joined by forensic artist Caroline Needham. Both have recently been recruited from the University of Manchester. The facility itself is based within the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Forensic art work includes disciplines such as building facial reconstructions, recreating facial appearance from post-mortem images or illustrations of trauma for use in court. The work has widespread use, from human identification purposes, to archaeological investigations, to work for museums and media.

Explaining the crossover between art and science Dr Wilkinson said, "You need artistic skills to produce a lot of the work we do. For instance, something like facial reconstruction requires good sculptural skills.

"There is a lot of detailed drawing work involved as well. At the same time, you need a sound knowledge of anatomy and forensic anthropology to ensure that the detail is correct."

Within the unit, which will initially be a practical facility with hopes to broaden into teaching and research, is a ground-breaking computer facial reconstruction system which enables the user to "feel" the surface of the skull or face on the computer screen.