Bioart and biomedical art are blossoming fields, with a whole new generation of artists, the DIYbio movement enabling more people to get involved, and discoveries in bioscience bringing in new challenges. Supported by the Creative Europe program of the European Commission Trust Me, I’m an Artist is a project initiated by artist Anna Dumitriu and ethicist Bobbie Farsides to provide a platform for discussing bioart and ethics, sharing knowledge and building capacity. This article reflects upon the author’s journey through the different art projects and how foregrounding ethics challenged her usual art critic approach.

Ethical issues frequently arise in the production and exhibition of bioart, both as subject matter and as an issue in itself. This article explores how learning from the author’s experiences as lead project artist in the Creative Europe—funded Trust Me, I’m an Artist project, along with her work as a freelance artist, which is deeply embedded in laboratory settings around the world, can help build capacity and opportunities for artists and scientists to work together in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations to address the societal and cultural implications of emerging bioscientific and biomedical research areas, attitudes to patient care, and public engagement in contemporary scientific research.