Jaclyn Pham is a visionary artist and engineer based in Meadville, PA. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Art, Science, and Innovation at Allegheny College. Pham combines her technical skills with her artistic vision to create immersive installations that blur the lines between the physical and digital spaces.

Pham’s artistic practice is characterized by her passion to integrate digital and physical elements to create immersive and thought-provoking installations. Inspired by her early piano training, she seeks to bring visual art to life through multisensory experiences, giving dynamic form to abstract ideas and digital signals. Her work often involves the use of creative coding, hardware, and graphic design to create installations that explore themes such as human-computer interaction, the tangible forms of abstract ideas, and the empathic relationships between humans and their environment.

Deeply interested in Buddhism and a practitioner of mindful living, Pham believes that true peace and contentment come from within, through a mindful connection between the mind and body. Despite her passion for digital tools, she recognizes the current state of technology’s integration can distance us from this mind-body connection. Unlike the childlike curiosity and deep connection with desires and happiness, digital beings are often overwhelmed by too many choices and stressors, leading to neglect of mundane and mindful actions.

Born and raised in Hanoi, Vietnam, and having spent time in Bordeaux, France, Pham has observed the shift in lifestyles across different cultures. The slow pace of life in Hanoi, characterized by people going out every morning to chat and greet their neighbors, and the tradition of “trà đá cà phê” (tea and coffee - symbolizes the tradition of a slow weekend breakfast routine for Hanoians), and the French motto “joie de vie" (living in the moment, embracing life’s simple pleasure), both Hanoi and Bordeaux share a common theme of mindfulness and appreciation for life. However, Pham’s upbringing as a traditional Asian going to gifted school exposed her to the invisible mold of academic expectations, which can pressure individuals to fit in. This experience inspires her to create safe environments that can spark magical moments and cherish curiosity for small things in life.

Onism, the frustration of being limited to a single body and place at a time, motivates Pham to create multisensory pieces that allow her to experience the subject in every layer as everything at once (sight, sound, touch, etc.). Through her art, she seeks to explore multiple dimensions and foster a deeper connection with the world around. Pham’s recent work includes a collaboration between analog and digital that explores the user’s connection with a typewriter. This project was funded by Harold M. State Research Fellowship and was showcased in the Open Sound Control: Distance + Mediation exhibition alongside researchers from Northeastern University and the University of Michigan. In addition, Pham’s immersive installations have been exhibited in the Allegheny College Annual Show, including a touch-sensitive musical painting and a mixed-reality painting.

Beyond her artistic practice, Pham is also passionate about education and outreach. She has led digital workshops for non-art students and faculty under the Allegheny Lab for Innovation and Creativity. Her current experiment is designing movement-based painting interfaces under the Department of Computer and Information Science and the Art Department of Allegheny College. Pham’s goal is to improve human consciousness through the use of technology and to create experiences that draw viewer’s awareness to the senses.