Media Headshots

Photos free to use for any media use.
No permissions required.

Kim Awa is an interdisciplinary researcher, artist, and speaker who explores how our brains and minds engage with art and creativity. She studies the science behind how we see, feel, and make meaning from art, using tools like EEG, behavioral sampling, and computational methods to ask big questions like what draws us to certain artworks and how the creative process unfolds in the brain.

With an original background in design + photography and a deep curiosity about how art shapes well-being, Kim brings together perspectives from neuroscience, philosophy, and the arts. She is currently pursuing her PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Arkansas. She previously completed a master’s in applied cognition and neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas and served as a research fellow at the Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology, where she examined race-based biases in the arts.

Outside of research, Kim collaborates with museums, artists, and cultural organizations to create immersive experiences that connect science and art, inviting audiences to see creativity not just as expression but as something deeply human that links us all.