In 2019, composer and musician Helen Anahita Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her experience with subsequent treatment inspired her to create the piece “Linea Naturalis”, a 45-minute soundscape produced from the micro-electric fluctuations of plants used in anti-cancer treatments and chemotherapy.
Wilson collaborated with London’s Chelsea Physic Garden, a botanic plot with a collection of medicinal specimens. She took 28 bioelectric recordings from plants used in cancer treatment, such as the Madagascar periwinkle and English yew. These plants have yielded compounds used in treating Hodgkin’s lymphoma, some types of leukemia, breast and ovarian cancer.
Each plant had a unique signature influenced by various factors like light, temperature, or wound healing. Wilson converted these signatures into audible sound, layering them into the final composition. Wilson stated, “Having had chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy, I’ve done a lot of wound healing myself.”
