Ann-Marie Pham is a Vietnamese-American scientist and visual artist born and raised in New Orleans. She is currently in her third year at Loyola University New Orleans and is working towards a bachelor’s degree as a biology major with a concentration in pre-medicine as well as a minor in studio arts. Traditionally, science and art are different; however the motivations and goals to understand the world around us are fundamentally the same. Her passion for both science and art reflects her inspiration and stylistic choices to understand and describe the world around us. Her work explores the nature of both subjects through a variety of media such as illustrations, paintings, digital art, as well as mixed media sculpture. Ann-Marie has worked alongside artist and geneticist, Dr. Hunter Cole, in producing living art through bioluminescent bacteria and continues to curate more research and installations with Dr. Cole.
Ukiyo"The Floating World"
Aluminum Charcoal Window Screen
43.5 x 18 x 18 Window screen project
Location?
Andy Goldsworthy project
“Untitled”
Textile project
“La Elegía”
Mixed Media
Found object project
“What do you see”
Shelter as an identity project
The house I currently reside in is a shelter, but I call it “home”. But when I think of this “home”, I can’t help but feel like I’ve lost a sense of myself. I find myself distancing further away; constantly trying to be anywhere else but there. When I look in the mirror, the emotional and verbal abuse of my culture daunts me. It transforms me into an unrecognizable person the moment I step inside. Everytime I glance at this place, I see a deep, rich, red. In Vietnamese culture red symbolizes luck; however, it is anything but that. Red feels like suppressed anger; like my blood is boiling. “Home” is a retribution. It’s an empty void. In an ideal world, home is a place where you find comfort. Protection. Home is the safe haven from our realities. My home is a person. When I am at home, I feel like I can be myself. I always feel safe at home. It offers a peace of mind. My mind is my home.
My intention for this piece is to illustrate a story whilst creating an illusion. I wanted to create a duality of two opposing concepts: home vs. reality. Although the underlying medium for this piece was photography and photoshop, the embedded materials within these photographs represent the duality of my home. The mirrors were used to portray a variety of perspectives: what people see vs. how I see myself. Implementing a fluctuation in expressions with the sizes of the mirrors represents the distance between the outer appearance and my true self. The red lipstick conveys both my culture as well as my inner turmoil. Red is often used in Vietnamese culture to symbolize luck because it is believed that demons and evil spirits were afraid of the color red. Despite this concept, the rough smear of the once perfect lipstick represents the retribution of my home and relentlessness of my anxiety. Concentrating a deranged photograph onto a compact mirror symbolizes how easily one can use makeup as a facade and close out reality.