Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya
Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (born 1992) is a multidisiciplinary artist and speaker based in Brooklyn, New York. She is behind the project Beyond Curie. Phingbodhipakkiya is a neuroscientist-turned-artist and an advocate of STEM. She is known for conveying complex scientific ideas via art. Phingbodhipakkiya was born and raised in the outskirts of Atlanta to Thai and Indonesian immigrant parents. Education and career. Phingbodhipakkiya earned a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Columbia University in 2010. She worked as a researcher at Columbia Medical Center and conducted a study regarding Alzheimer's disease. Phingbodhipakkiya later obtained 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 multidisiciplinary artist. Phingbodhipakkiya had written content about neuroscience for Inc. and TED. She also writes occasionally at Medium. Phingbodhipakkiya works as an artist-in-residence for NYC Commission of Human Rights. Change in career. 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. As an adult, from a neuroscientist, 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 because the average person would not be interested in reading dense scientific papers and therefore would not understand . Phingnodhipakkiya 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. Artistic work. Phingbodhipakkiya is a multidisciplinary artist and has utilized augmented reality, interactive installation and biodesign on her projects and exhibits. She is open on trying out various mediums to express the subject matter. 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. Gallery. Beyond  Curie 2020 NYC Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) images from NYC.gov