Amy Karle is not just an artist. She is an archivist of the possible, a futurist of body and spirit.
A mind that transforms cells, algorithms, and visions into aesthetic and political acts.
Born in New York in 1980 and educated at Alfred University and Cornell University, she lives in the intersections between art, science, technology, and spirituality.
Her personal history, shaped by a rare congenital condition that brought her into close contact with experimental medicine from birth has traced a path where the body is not a limit, but a threshold.
"The body and identity are living, evolving mediums, an ever-shifting landscape."
With these words, Amy Karle introduces us to the heart of her work. A work that questions the technologies of the present to rewrite the identities of the future.
"Our identity is much more than the materiality of the body, yet the two are deeply enmeshed. Identity is shaped by biology, culture, memory, and increasingly, by the tools, technologies, and biotechnologies we engage with."
It’s not just about form, but experience and healing.
For Amy, the concept of healing is fundamental: to heal does not only mean returning to who we were before, but becoming another, evolving through the experience—even those which are painful.
It is a transformative process that redefines identity and body. It is the possibility to evolve.
"When we heal, we change; when we enhance or augment, we redefine. Even when we heal or change the body, there is often a deeper level of healing that still needs to occur that healing or augmenting the body alone cannot always do. Healing and empowering identity is of another realm, there are other canvases of being that can be edited, and this can also change our biology, identity, and sense of self."
Amy’s work is a portal, a threshold between matter and possibility. Every project is an act of conscious transformation.
"The transformation of the body, self, and identity—whether through technology, healthcare, biotech, modern medicine, or self-directed interventions —becomes both mirror and canvas of identity. It reminds us that we are shaped, and waiting to be shaped, by the choices we make, the experiences that we have, the imprints on our body, and the technologies we use which are continually redefining who we are and our future."
Amy Karle is known for creating some of the most extraordinary bio-artistic works of our time, such as Regenerative Reliquary:
"I used generatively designed and bio-printed scaffolds that allow stem cells to grow into bone... I wanted to make something human-scale, immediately recognizable as human, so my artistic vision pushed research forward. It became the largest known 3D-printed scaffold made for stem cell culture at that time.”
Her thinking goes beyond the pioneering advancements. It is an ethical and poetic reflection on what healing really means:
"Although re-designing the body might yield enormous medical benefits, it also raises fundamental questions about responsibility, ethics, and what 'healing' truly means."
In her work The Heart of Evolution? (2019), Amy explores the potential of a redesigned heart not only as a biological organ, but as the symbolic and emotional center of the human being.
"I explored how re-engineering the heart might change us emotionally, spiritually, and socially," she explains.”
"This could be of great healing and medical benefit but may drastically change us and our evolutionary trajectory."
" Bio-art and biodesign help us envision new opportunities and healing modalities, illuminate pathways forward, helping us consider how we might use biotechnology not only to restore the body, and also compel us to redefine what healing means on emotional, spiritual, societal, and evolutionary levels.”
" Art itself could become a vehicle for a new form of immortality, both biological and digital. Especially when we look at bioart and biodesign, including generating organisms or reimagined bodies”.
Amy does not theorize. She acts. She works with adaptive organisms of artificial intelligence, creates copies of herself capable of generating art beyond her physical existence, and sends DNA into space.
" I’m now embarking on developing an AI/ML-based digital version of myself that could continue creating artwork after I’m physically gone. Our bio and digital remnants that we leave behind are in many ways archives of our emotional, psychological, and biological signatures "
Projects like Echoes from the Valley of Existence and The Golden Archive are living echoes.
True incubators of the future according to her vision:
" These are not merely archives, they are echoes of intention, living messages that could outlast us, a backup copy of Earth incubating for the future “
During the interview, we asked her: "Have you ever received particularly strong or unexpected reactions from your audience? How do you think your art affects the emotions and perceptions of users about their bodies and identities?"
Amy answered with touching sincerity:
" I’ve been moved by many deeply personal reactions regarding illness, disability, hope and grief. Viewers and participants have cried, meditated, and shared stories about how a piece resonated with their personal struggles or healing journeys.”
One of the most intense moments occurred in Japan during the installation of Echoes from the Valley of Existence:
" An especially humbling moment was during Echoes From the Valley of Existence in Japan when I saw a woman who thought she was alone in the piece bowing in front of it. “
That silent, solitary, sacred gesture encapsulates the depth of the relationship between the work and those experiencing it.
Amy does not simply create experiences: she creates spaces where emotions are welcomed, transformed, and revealed.
“Art can spark powerful reflections on ourselves and our identity, how we inhabit our bodies, how our bodies shift over time, and how technology weaves into that experience. It’s a mirror, a meditation, and can be a call to action.”
In this sense, the public is never a mere spectator. They are co-creators, a living presence.
Amy Karle’s works are not merely observed; they are felt, experienced, and often remembered with tears in the eyes.
With A Pulse in the Stream, Amy Karle has created an installation on the façade of the Beijing Digital Economy AI & Data Center that visualizes in real time the interaction between data, environment, body, and collective intelligences:
" Even a single pulse can alter the building’s appearance, illustrating that each of our actions has a ripple effect in this vast web of data and AI shaping our present and future”
" I see an even larger opportunity to use artwork to influence those states in the brain to bring about healing, and raising awareness and consciousness.”
During the interview we asked her: Have you ever thought of collaborating with neuroscientists to explore how the brain reacts to bioart and immersive experiences you create?
Her answer was illuminating:
" Yes, absolutely. In fact, I’m currently in discussions with a neuroscientist for a collaborative project along these lines. I’ve always been intrigued by how immersive, interactive artworks not only shift our perceptions but can tangibly reshape our felt experience—everything from empathy and self-awareness to healing”.
" For neuroscientists, this could be an incredible laboratory: they might measure how engagement with the piece modulates emotional states, empathy, or a deeper sense of connection. “
"In my previous series Biofeedback (2011-ongoing), I explored how we can both witness and open the door to using art as a catalyst for transformative states in the brain. It’s not just about observing a change; it’s about intentionally facilitating it, potentially guiding viewers toward heightened awareness, empathy, and well-being.”
"In that sense, art becomes a multi-sensory portal, a space where perception, body, and mind converge, potentially rewiring how we see ourselves and our place in the world. “
Amy Karle sees the brain not as a machine to be decoded, but as a living terrain shaped by perception.
For her, art is not a tool for embellishment, but a force that can rewrite our inner landscape.
Each work she creates becomes a spark—like a new synapse—connecting us to deeper awareness.
"I would say: stay with your questions, stay in the difficult questions even when they seem impossible, they will be your strength. Stay there even when it’s harder; don’t try to run away. Think about who you want to be at that moment and what you want to embody. Continue to create. Continue to act. Accept life’s challenges with courage and curiosity. Pain and questions have a purpose; they are part of your learning and your journey, shaping what you will contribute to this world."
Amy Karle spoke to us. Not only with words, but with presence.
She shared with us what most often remains hidden: the invisible part of the creative gesture—the one made of expectation, doubt, and vision.
Her answers are not simple statements: they are breaths, they are pauses, they are deep reflections.
In each of them, you can feel the heartbeat of a life shaped by meaning, searching, and the desire to leave a trace that is not only artistic, but deeply human.
This is not just an interview; it’s an invitation to look inside ourselves with greater courage, to welcome transformation as part of our being, and to recognize technology as an extension of our heart—even before our mind.
Amy has taught us that every work can be a prayer, a living code, a hope planted in the present to flourish in the future.
And while her voice accompanies us like a gentle echo, we are left with a rare feeling: that of being listened to by someone who, in her heart, listens before creating.
To be welcomed by someone who, through her art, chooses to heal—not only to express herself.
Thank you, Amy, for immersing us in a vision of art where the present is permeated by the future in mutual interconnection.
We invite you to follow Amy on her official website amykarle.com, on Instagram, and on her YouTube channel.
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30.4.2025
