New York-based artist Nina Sobell [
@nina_sobell ] writes: "I am interested in exploring notions of transformation, energy transfer, bridging the conscious and unconscious realms, and rendering the invisible visible through action and reaction. The results manifest themselves either as an action or object, and continue to live through extensive documentation. I see my life’s work as a series of explorations, where the data gathered is the fertilizer for a new crop of ingredients to develop, contemplate and play with. The processes of creation are an integral part of the work, as important as the result.
My BrainWave Drawings visualize internal states of connection, emotion, and attention layered over the human face. These works translate subtle relational signals and attempt to give form to what is sensed but rarely seen. I am also drawn to the collective unconscious where inherited patterns, fears, desires, and intuitions move through us beneath language, shaping gesture, gaze, and atmosphere before we can name them.
Formally, I work across interactive installation, video, performance, and XR. I build responsive systems with EEG wearables, cameras, and custom software that map neural and behavioral data. Color is not decorative in my work; it is a language. Frequency bands—theta, alpha, beta, gamma, and 40 Hz gamma—become visible, chromatic strands that braid, separate, and rejoin in real time. Sound functions similarly: tones, pulses, and textures shift with attention, producing a space that feels alive, sensitive, and reciprocal.
Currently, my practice is expanding into collective nonverbal communication within virtual environments such as R-Verse (our verse), exploring connection through gesture, rhythm, proximity, and shared attention globally. Ultimately, I aim to unsettle routine perception long enough for empathy to take root, deepening our connection to one another and to the fragile ecologies we share."
Work pictured:
Interactive BrainWave Drawings, Nina Sobell, 1974
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