Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya | |
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Born | 1988 (age 36–37) Atlanta, Georgia, US |
Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) Pratt Institute (MA) |
Occupation(s) | Multidisciplinary artist and speaker |
Known for | Beyond Curie, I Still Believe In Our City |
Honours | President's Committee on Arts and Humanities |
External videos | |
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Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (born 1988) is a multidisciplinary artist and speaker based in Brooklyn, New York. [1] [2] She is behind the project I Still Believe in Our City [3] and Beyond Curie. [4] [5] Phingbodhipakkiya is a neuroscientist-turned-artist and an advocate of STEM who is known for conveying complex scientific ideas via art. [4] [6] [7] As an artist, Phingbodhipakkiya works with murals, textiles, sculptures, public art campaigns and participatory installations and her art often touches on themes of AAPI, women, STEM, and human rights issues.
Phingbodhipakkiya is a multidisciplinary artist and has utilized augmented reality, interactive installation and biodesign on her projects and exhibits. [8] [2]
Phingbodhipakkiya's art is usually colorful and she considers space to be a vital aspect in her craft. She cites artist Bruno Munari as her inspiration as she is fascinated by how he pairs colors and shapes. [9]
From Roots We Carry: In October 2022, Phingbodhipakkiya exhibited “From Roots We Carry”, a participatory installation and ritual made from string, fabric, rattan baskets, and condensed milk cans in collaboration with musicians Dorothy Chan and Lucy Yao of Chromic Duo. The piece explored familial memories and intergenerational legacies and encouraged participants to discuss aspects of their cultural heritage and release pieces of paper representing aspects that no longer served them. [10]
GATHER: A series of monuments and rituals: In the summer of 2022, Phingbodhipakkiya created "GATHER: A series of monuments and rituals" on the outdoor campus of Lincoln Center, to create opportunities for public healing in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, renewed war & conflict, increasing hate crimes, and climate change. [11] [12]
Raise Your Voice: For its 10th anniversary the Museum of the City of New York featured 'Raise Your Voice', an immersive mural installation by Phingbodhipakkiya. The piece illustrated the resilience of New Yorkers from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. It expressed solidarity across activist movements with portraits of Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X. Installed near the Activist New York exhibition, Raise Your Voice raises questions and encourages audiences to use their powers for advocacy. [16] [17]
May We Know Our Own Strength: In fall 2021, Phingbodhipakkiya created an installations featuring the voices of anonymous survivors of sexual violence and racism, focused on the intersection of racism, misogyny, and fetishization. Using a web-based system, participants submitted stories of abuse or trauma which were printed via receipt papers, which the artist then crafted into intricate paper sculptures. [18]
Very Asian Feelings: In April 2021, Phingbodhipakkiya completed 'Very Asian Feelings', a mural and installation that explored her personal experience growing up as an Asian American at the Texas Asia Society in Houston. The exhibit was part of a group exhibition called Making Home: Artists and Immigration and featured a mural, canvas reliefs, poetry, found objects, and a textile tapestry. [19]
Phingbodhipakkiya was born and raised in the outskirts of Atlanta to Thai and Indonesian immigrant parents. [27]
Phingbodhipakkiya earned a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Columbia University in 2010. [28] She worked as a researcher at Columbia Medical Center and conducted a study regarding Alzheimer's disease. After obtaining a master's degree in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, she worked as a creative for several companies until she established her own career and went full-time as a multidisciplinary artist. [6] [2]
Phingbodhipakkiya had written and presented content about neuroscience for both Inc. and TED. [29] She also writes occasionally at Medium. [30] Phingbodhipakkiya works as an artist-in-residence for NYC Commission of Human Rights. [31]
At a young age, Phingbodhipakkiya associated and questioned the relationship between science and art. As a child, she was fascinated by the aesthetic appeal of the wings of a butterfly, and her mother decided to buy a microscope so she could better observe them. Phingbodhipakkiya then pondered how art, design, and science are interconnected and wondered how they are seen as completely separate and different fields in education. [32]
As an adult, she entered the Ph.D. program at Columbia University, studying neuroscience and working with Yaakov Stern on Alzheimer's research. However, Phingbodhipakkiya eventually became an artist. When asked how she made the jump, Phingbodhipakkiya recalled an incident when she used to work for Columbia Medical Center: a patient once asked her what is her contribution to science. She gave the research paper in response and later regretted it as a failed opportunity to communicate about science, because the average person would not be interested in reading dense scientific papers and therefore would not understand. [33] [34]
Phingbodhipakkiya pondered how to become a better storyteller by expressing complex ideas to a wider audience in a digestible way, and she found herself delving into design. [9]
Beyond Curie
2020 NYC Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) images from NYC.gov