WHAT OTHERS SAY - Vara Kamin Images (VKI)

Vara Kamin Images (VKI) have the capacity to assist individuals of all ages in discovering and connecting with their own intuition and self-nurturing inner realm.

Below please find selected testimonials from healthcare professionals and individuals who have experienced the images.

“Creating the potential for a passageway for the innate healing capacity of the body to follow, Vara Kamin’s art provides a bridge into the realm of active imagination while inviting the body to engage the relaxation response.”

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.
President Mind-Body Health Sciences, Inc.
Boulder, CO

“Vara, you have created something quite unique and powerful, both as a healing ‘tool’ and as a medium through which those who suffer can achieve great insight.”

James Lake, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Chair, APA Caucus on Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medicine Stanford University Hospital
Stanford, CA


The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia VKI Image: Sacred Passages – Equanimity©

“The engaging images are a positive point of focus for both the patients and their parents. As a child-life specialist, I use the images as a tool to help stimulate imagination and redirect the patient’s attention; helping to provide them with a sense of control in what is perceived to be a very scary environment.”

Melanie Hoynoski, CCLS, CTRS
Child Life Specialist/Educator
Ambulatory Network
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA

“Vara Kamin’s work embraces you with color, serenity and joy. Her images are a vital component of a healing environment and make a profound different for us all, patients, family and staff.”

Lisa Erickson, MD (Retired)
Center for Reproductive Medicine
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Minneapolis, MN

Children’s Hospital Boston, Ultrasound Room; Boston, MA | VKI Image: Sea Garden©


Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine | VKI Image: Moon Drops©

“The magnificent back lit, replicated abstract image of the painting “Moon Drops”, at the Medical Fitness and Wellness Center, continues to receive rave reviews from our members and visitors. We could not be happier with the ambience that has been created by your exceptional work.”

Dr. Silvia M. Ferretti, D.O., Provost Senior Vice President
Dean of Academic Affairs
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
Erie, PA

“The experience of engaging with the images totally transforms the here and now; creating a feeling of safety, calmness and contentment. Your images represent something that patients don’t have to analyze or figure out; they can simply be with them.”

Judy Rollins, PhD, RN
Department of Family Medicine and Pediatrics
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Washington, DC

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia | VKI Image: Pricilla’s Garden©

“It just occurred to me, the power the imagery has: whether you are conscious of it or not. Once I identified it, my experience was real. And having a light box in my room at home played a significant part of my healing, especially on the bad chemo days, which is most of my life these days.”

Karen G.
Cancer Patient
St. Paul, MN

“Out of the darkness you bring the light. You are like Rapunzel, in many ways: you spin gold out of straw. You take divine inspiration and create works on which other people can see hope, fearlessness, a second chance…basically all things God in the darkest nights of their souls.”

Gretchen Stein, Ph.D., CEAP, Chief Executive Officer
The Sand Creek Group, Ltd./A Behavioral Health Care Company


Health Partners Specialty Care Center | VKI Image: View from the Mesa©


Life Diagnostics Imaging/HFA Interventional Pain Clinic | VKI Image: Moon Drops©

“We want our patients to have a positive experience when they come to Radiology. Vara Kamin’s backlit images help us provide that. In fact, these images convey what we are all about: compassion, caring, and a look to a healthy future.”

Chip Truwit, MD
Professor and Chairman, Department of Radiology
Hennepin County Medical Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota

“We know now that healing requires more than just a focus on physical health. We have to support patients as people first–and that means providing for them spiritually and emotionally as much as we do medicinally.Vara Kamin’s artwork in our cancer center helps us to provide that full support.”

Flavio Kruter, M.D.,
Hematology/Oncology,
Medical Director of Carroll Hospital Center’s Cancer Program

“Vara Kamin Images are so calm and serene.
We are privileged to have a state-of-the art Cancer Center to support our community. Since the Images were installed in the Cancer Center 18 months ago, we have heard patients comment over and over again how beautiful the Images are, that they are drawn to them, and that the Images are a valuable distraction from the cold, hard machinery that is the unfortunate reality in treating cancer.
The ability to dim the backlighting of the VKI Image is also very powerful. We raise or lower the intensity of the lighting based on treatment requirements and patient preference. Dimming the light can change the look of the Image and can really make a difference to the patients. It is also gratifying to see that even as the length of some procedures has grown longer and the masks the patients wear have grown larger, we still use very little sedation in our Center, and we attribute that in part to the calming influence of the Vara Kamin Images.”

Karen Alban, RN, BSN, OCN,
Executive Director Oncology Services,
Carroll Hospital Cancer Center

“As with Kandinsky and the abstract impressionists he inspired, Kamin’s images seem to hover on the border between figurative and abstract art. One might ‘see’ floral motifs, constellations, and seascapes, but one also ‘feels’ that the paintings capture moments of emotional equilibrium, of harmonies and clashes in natural forces, and of transient displays of light and shadow.”

Paula Kane, Ph.D., Professor
Religious Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA

“We expect the healthcare professionals to do their utmost to care for our loved ones, but the pleasantly unexpected is when the physical space is also taken into account as an integral part of the care giving environment. It shows compassion and mindfulness for a hospital to put a piece of healing (Vara Kamin) artwork up on the wall.””

Bob Huff
Edina, MN

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Sedation Suite; Philadelphia, PA | VKI Image: Touching Petals©

“As a pioneer in the field of art and healing, you forged ahead of the known realms of art and created a pathway to bring your healing Images to millions, young and old alike; inviting them to tap into a part of their brain that can assist in transforming their body’s responses to fear, anxiety, pain, and trauma.””

Pam Wilkins
President Wilkins Art Associates, Inc.
Hyannis, MA

“To get into an organization takes so much time and diligence. I commend you for your efforts over the years to stay true to your beliefs and continue to pursue what you know in your heart is transforming to others. When we met almost 15 years ago, I think that society needed yet to evolve to this state, where research and self-awareness has moved to this current condition of acknowledgement. There is so much work being done on so many fronts that helps validate what you have been saying all along. From medical advances recognizing and measuring the physiological changes in the human body, to the spiritual awakening that has been expanding as people have experienced an unconscious shift in what is of true value in life.”

Ann Huhn, Senior Facilities Planner
AHC Office of Facilities & Capital Planning
University of Minnesota Academic Health Center
Minneapolis, MN