3D artist visiting North Texas collaborates with NASA for eclipse-inspired pieces

DALLAS - An artist from New York City has come to Texas to experience the solar eclipse and use it for her projects.

But she's not just any artist. She works with NASA and some of its scientists to share their work with wider audiences.

For artists, there’s always a search for inspiration. And for some, the eclipse provides just that.

Ashley Zelinskie is a self-described space nerd. The artist works alongside NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team.

"Everybody always asks that. Everybody asks why or how I came to work with NASA," she said.

As an artist, Zelinskie applied and earned access to see the James Webb Telescope while it was on Earth. 

"I fell in love with the team," she said. "All the scientists and engineers have been my family for like eight years since."

Since the telescope’s launch to space in 2021, she’s been using images and data captured by the telescope to create her own art with a twist, both in digital and 3D form.

2024 solar eclipse map: Path through Texas, peak times on April 8

"It’s 3D printed and then copper plated, and the moon is patinated," she explained. "They’re both of nebulas and starbursts. So, stars going supernova, star stuff being spit out into the universe."

Zelinskie feels fortunate to have an inside look at some of NASA’s most intimate images of space, but her most recent inspiration is something North Texans and many others will be able to share just by stepping outside: the solar eclipse. 

"I want to see people cry. I want to see people cheer," she said. "I want to cry. I want to cheer."

Zelinskie, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, is showing off some of her eclipse artwork at the Dallas Art Fair this week. 

Next, she’ll head toward Austin for the Texas Eclipse Festival this weekend. It’s where some of her NASA-inspired designs will be the stage backdrop for musicians as they perform for thousands of people.

"This is so huge. The eclipse, I can’t wait to see it," she said.

Much of Zelinskie’s art is visual. But during the eclipse, she’s joining in on NASA’s eclipse soundscapes project, a citizen project in which people record and submit audio to hear how nature reacts to the eclipse.

"The birds freak out. The bugs freak out. The people freak out," she said.

Totality is certainly rare. 

Zelinskie is happy to be a part of the collective sharing the eclipse experience. 

"You feel really connected to the universe and to each other, which is all the same thing anyway," she said.