Art in the Education Lab: "The Shape of Memory" by Maya Ciarrocchi

Every year the Zuckerman Institute commissions an artist to create an original artwork that will invite and inspire community members to explore science through an artistic lens.

Meet the artist and join us for drinks and light refreshments on Thursday, June 18, at 5:30 pm, when we unveil our latest Art in the Education Lab commission, The Shape of Memory, by the artist .

What is the physical form of a memory? To explore this question, Maya has created a woven Jacquard tapestry, inspired by conversations with researchers at ZI. She was particularly intrigued by the work being done in the Dmitriy Aronov Lab, where scientists study the black-capped chickadee—a tiny bird known for its incredible ability to hide thousands of bits of food and remember exactly where it put them.

The artwork is based on real data, including maps of where the birds hide and retrieve their food, a behavior known as “caching”. Maya found inspiration in the distinctive barcode-like patterns associated with their memory formation. By turning this scientific information into a physical fabric, the project helps us "see" the invisible process of thinking. It’s a reminder that memory isn't just a biological trick; it’s also a deeply personal experience connected to the spaces we move through and the things we touch.

This event is free and open to the public. Register now to guarantee entrance, but walk-ins are also welcome.

Photography: On occasion, we photograph or video our events for promotional and archival purposes. When registering for the event at Jerome L. Greene Science Center, you give Columbia University in the City of New York the right to use your image for said purposes. We will never use your names, age, or other identifying factors.

Questions? Email us at [email protected].

Presented by: Zuckerman Institute

About the Artist

Maya Ciarrocchi is a Canadian American interdisciplinary artist living and working in the Bronx, NY. Her work emerges from a background in dance, choreography, and theatrical design, disciplines where movement, image, and space are inherently connected. These experiences in solo, ensemble, and site-specific performance, along with the creation of large-scale video environments for both traditional and experimental theater, continue to shape Ciarrocchi's understanding of bodies in relation to place.

Rooted in ecological and scientific inquiry, her interdisciplinary practice travels across textiles, video, mixed media, and movement-based performance to examine the fragile intersections between the natural world and the built environment. Through embodied and spatial mapping, she constructs speculative fictions informed by historical archives, revealing buried pasts and tracing how their erasures reverberate through the present and into imagined futures. These two-dimensional, time-based, and performative investigations construct new, fantastical spaces from the residue of loss.

Maya's work has been exhibited in New York City, as well as nationally and internationally at galleries, museums and performing arts venues such as Abrons Arts Center, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Collar Works, Center for New Music, Derfner Judaica Museum, Field Projects, Gibney, Jack, Smack Mellon, and Wave Hill. She is a MacDowell Fellow and has been awarded residencies from the Baryshnikov Arts, Bronx Museum of the Arts, KinoSaito, Loghaven, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Millay Arts, and UCross among others. She has received grants and awards from the Bronx Council on the Arts, Canada Council for the Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Franklin Furnace Fund, Jerome Foundation, Map Fund, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. In addition to her studio practice, Ciarrocchi has created award winning projection design for dance and theater, including the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The Band's Visit. Ciarrocchi earned an MFA in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY, and a BFA in Dance from Purchase College in Purchase, NY. Her work is held in the Brookfield Properties collection, the Derfner Judaica Museum + Art Collection, and the Kingsbridge Historical Society.

Manon Casimir-Sainton, aka Sleepfoot?

Our 2023-2024 Artist in the Education Lab Manon Casimir-Sainton will be leading a conversation with Maya.

Manon is a New York City-based interdisciplinary artist . Her paintings mirror her synesthesia, induced by personal multi-genre sound compositions, and mental health experiences. She is self-taught and draws from a background of art, education, and technology.

Her work is deeply immersed in color, sound, and visuals, as explored through the lenses of mixed-media painting and digital and audio production. Her work examines themes of identity, spirituality, race, and psychology. Her introspective process includes sound layering, creating colorful templates, and rendering her internal state of being to canvas or digital format for viewers to engage with.

Manon has exhibited her work nationally. She has shown locally at Site:Brooklyn,The Sheen Center, Plaxall Gallery,  and has been commissioned by music- and spirituality-based organizations in NYC. In addition, her work has been featured at a number of art centers including the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (CA), AnnMarie’s Sculpture Garden and Art Center (MD), and The Art Center at Highland Park (IL).

Sleepyfoot? was selected to create the 2023-2024 Art in the Education Lab commission for Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute. Her exploration of how the different senses are connected in the brain led to the delightful audiovisual work .

Info: There will be light refreshments, and guests will have the opportunity to view the work and mingle.

Info: An interview with the artist Maya Ciarrocchi, led by our 2023-2024 Artist in the Education Lab Manon Casimir-Sainton, aka Sleepyfoot?

Info: Guests will have a chance to chat with our artists.

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