Rebecca Kamen
Rebecca Kamen, sculptor and lecturer on the intersections of art and science, seeks ‘the truth’ through observation.
Her artwork is informed by wide-ranging research into cosmology, history, philosophy, and by connecting common threads that flow across various scientific fields to capture and re-imagine what the scientists see.
She has investigated scientific rare books and manuscripts at the libraries of the American Philosophical Society, the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and the Cajal Institute in Madrid, utilizing these significant scientific collections as a catalyst in the creation of her work.
Kamen has researched on collaborative projects at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, the Kavli Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology, and at the National Institutes of Health. Selected as a Salzburg Global Seminar fellow in 2015, she was invited to Austria to present her work as part of a seminar titled: The Neuroscience of Art: What are the Sources of Creativity and Innovation.
Ms. Kamen has exhibited and lectured both nationally and internationally including China, Hong Kong, Korea, Austria, Chile, Egypt, Spain, Australia and Singapore. She has been the recipient of a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship, a Pollack Krasner Foundation Fellowship, two Strauss Fellowships, and a Travel Grant from the Chemical Heritage Foundation. As artist in residence in the neuroscience program at National Institutes of Health, Kamen has interpreted and transformed neuroscience research into sculptural form. Her artwork is represented in many private and public collections.
As professor emeritus of art at Northern Virginia Community College, Professor Kamen continues to investigate how the arts and creativity can enhance innovation and our understanding of science. An outcome of Kamen’s research has included the development of an art component for George Mason University’s Aspiring Scientist Summer Internship Program (ASSIP), encouraging science interns to use the arts as an innovative way of interpreting their research.
Currently, Professor Kamen is serving as artist in residence in The Computational Neuroscience Initiative and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania.
a channel through which something can be seen or understood
As an artist and visual learner with a curious mindset, I am continually driven by a desire to learn and understand new things and how they work. For me, viewing the world through a dyslexic lens, like neurons in the brain, sparks endless connections and possibilities. Growing up with dyslexia has at times been challenging, but as a visual artist, my dyslexia has proven to be a gift. It has enabled me to harness my imagination and to discover and create unique connections between the worlds of art and science.
Sparking Curiosity, depicts the network dynamics of my art process. This
visually active composition charts the complex architecture and connective
paths in my brain as I conceived and created the artwork superimposed on
this diagram. Developed at the University of Pennsylvania’s Complex
Systems Lab, it offers a rare glimpse into my evolving quest for knowledge
and how it manifests into artwork.
Kamen’s Lens 1 & 2 another exhibition component is accessible via the QR
Code.
Using artificial intelligence to translate transcripts from interviews and
presentations discussing the development of artwork into animated images,
the animations visualize the dynamic, fluid, and spontaneous forces
underlying my connective imagination—my curiosity.
By having artificial intelligence translate words into images, we appreciate a
visual reimagining of the unique stories and neurodiverse artists behind
how art takes shape.
