Psyche Inspired: Monica Moreno

Institution: Pasadena City College

Major: Jewelry/Metalworking

Psyche Inspired Class: 2019-2020

Reflections from Monica

Orbit Kinetic Ring

This image shows a sterling silver kinetic ring with a darkened bronze asteroid as the centerpiece. A tiny spacecraft placed next to the asteroid is mobile. The small spacecraft can be pushed around the asteroid to simulate orbit.

Orbit Kinetic Ring

Monica Moreno

November 7, 2019

Major: Jewelry/Metalworking

Genre/Medium: metalwork (sterling silver, bronze, brass, cubic zirconia)

About the work: Created using bronze, sterling silver, brass, and cubic zirconia, this piece was inspired by the main objective of the Psyche mission: to explore. We are sending a small spacecraft into outer space to explore something much bigger. The fact that we can do something like this is still amazing to me, and the possibilities of what we may discover about the Psyche asteroid is beyond exciting. This wearable sculpture pays homage to the traveling spacecraft and to the asteroid that we want to learn more about. It was difficult to scale down the dimensions of something like an asteroid or spacecraft to fit a tiny ring, but I hope that the main idea behind this tiny sculpture is apparent. Read more…

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Vision

An oval-shaped art piece cast in bronze in the shape of an eye with a glass pupil. The pupil is a magnification lens through which one can view an image of Psyche in human form looking up at a spacecraft traveling toward her.

Vision

Monica Moreno

January 14, 2019

Major: Jewelry/Metalworking

Genre/Medium: bronze, glass, photography

About the work: Since the start of my NASA Psyche Inspired internship, I have been fascinated by the people working on the NASA Psyche Mission. They are a group of individuals who have devoted countless hours, days, and years of their lives to one mission. Their drive and dedication are apparent, but to me, their sheer sense of wonder and curiosity are inspiration enough. This piece pays homage to those special human traits.

Everyone working on this mission has a vision, represented here as a human eye. I sculpted this eye in clay by hand, hoping not to make it look female or male and giving it no particular age or ethnicity, so that it may represent all. Through a process of mold making and wax casting, I finally cast this heavy 3”x 2” piece in bronze.
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Layers

Layers

Monica Moreno

January 27, 2020

Major: Jewelry/Metalworking

Genre/Medium: mixed media sculpture

About the work: There are multiple layers to people, rosebuds, and things much larger in size, like the planet that we live on. This mixed media sculpture speaks of the importance and purpose of studying the Psyche asteroid– for us humans to perhaps discover what is at the center of Earth, past its crust, and mantle.

My sculpture showcases my own artistic interpretation of what a planet that has collided with another object might look like. It is made of recycled materials, including plastic, wood, paper, and pewter that I carved, melted, and sculpted. The planet is held by a painted clay hand. The Psyche Mission itself is intriguing to me, but I feel like I have to take as many opportunities as possible during my Psyche Inspired internship to tie a human aspect to the Psyche asteroid and the creation and launch of the Psyche spacecraft. To me, the people working on the mission are just as intriguing as the mission itself.

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Magnetic Field

Here, a hand engraved steel plate depics an image of the Psyche asteroid with the Psyche spacecraft and radiating magnetic field. The plate is mounted on a black shadowbox frame.

Magnetic Field

Monica Moreno

April 7, 2020

Major: Jewelry/Metalworking

Genre/Medium: engraving

About the work: The Psyche spacecraft is to be sent off with a set of scientific instruments meant to collect information about the Psyche asteroid. One of those instruments is a magnetometer, which will be measuring Psyche’s magnetic field. I aim to show the connection between the Psyche spacecraft, the asteroid, and its magnetic field in this art piece. Read more…

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