Ashley Zelinskie, ONX studio by Onassis Foundation & New INC, and NASA at The New York Times

The artist Ashley Zelinskie is helping NASA scientists share their work with wider audiences through an exhibition and a performance at the Olympic Tower building in Manhattan.

3-D-printed sculptures, a VR installation, and a screen print augmented with interactive lights are featured at the show “Unfolding the Universe: First Light,” on view through Oct. 23 at ONX Studio, a partnership of the Onassis Foundation and New Inc, the New Museum’s art and tech incubator.

“The artworks take cues from Pop Art, like the halftone screen-prints that recall Warhol, or recognizable, figural sculptures like “Ring Nebula,” which recreates the Southern Ring Nebula in a 3D-printed “cloud” of copper around two aquamarine gems representing the two stars in the center that are ejecting dust and gas. Zelinski is careful to toe the line between abstraction and a more traditional science display like those in a museum or visitors center. “Scientists can be very analytical and didactic,” she said. “I am always pushing to make things more creative, without losing the educational thread.

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Maggie Masetti, curator of the exhibition at ONX and social media lead and website manager for the Webb, says that for NASA’s teams, art is another way to reach bigger and more diverse audiences. After seeing the passionate followings that artists have on social media, Masetti invited several to see the Webb up close and create art, which turned into an exhibition in the visitors center at Goddard. “The telescope is absolutely beautiful,” she said. “It has this enormous gold coated mirror, which is great at reflecting infrared light, but it is also an incredible aesthetic object.”

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What’s next for NASA’s team and Zelinskie? A collaboration between the artist and retired astronaut Mike Massimino. Their exhibition will focus on the human experience of being in space, and features computer-guided milled marble replicas of Massimino’s gloves, as well as a 3-D-printed version of his helmet, with real helmet cam footage projected onto the visor. “We see things in a different way,” Massimino said, “Ashley brings out the artistic side of what we do.”