Project Space Resident

Melissa Ferrari is an experimental nonfiction animator, magic lanternist and educator. Originally from Virginia, Melissa is now based in L.A. where she received an Experimental Animation MFA at CalArts. Her films and magic lantern performances have been shown internationally in venues such as Hot Docs, The Exploratorium, UnionDocs, Hauser & Wirth LA, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and Ann Arbor Film Festival.  Recent awards include the 2023 Dick Balzer Award and the 2020 Science Sandbox Symbiosis Award. As an educator, Melissa specializes in teaching nonfiction and experimental animation.  She has lectured at CalArts, Whittier College, Queens College, & Cal State LA.

As an experimental animator and magic lanternist, my practice engages with the mythification of science and pseudoscience, the spectrum of supernatural to preternatural, and lineages of animated documentary.  In exposing peripheral histories, I aim to unveil the wonder that lies in the shadow of nonfiction, rather than fiction.  I specialize in hand-drawn palimpsest animation techniques, frequently collaged with natural materials and practical lighting, to create research-based experiments with animation.

Throughout my work, I am drawn to stories that reveal tension in themes of belief systems, religion, and science, as well as veracity and the nature of truth.  The resonance of these concepts in the histories of phantasmagoria and illustrated lantern lectures led me to start performing with antique magic lanterns.  Approaching lanterns through the lens of animated documentary, I create performances using hand-drawn animated slides, preserving the visual language of lantern animation by adapting contemporary subjects to traditional slide designs.

VSW Project Space Residencies are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature, Monroe County, and Joy of Giving Something.