MORTAL
Taking inspiration from the Death Positive Movement, we have commissioned early career artists Ben Faircloth, Mariana Leal, and Eilidh Nicoll to produce new animated work that reflects on how death and dying can be rethought, and how matters such as end of life care and planning, handling grief, and funerary practices can be better approached.
Each artist will undertake a period of research and development, engaging broadly with the subject and taking inspiration from our partner, social anthropologist Dr Hannah Rumble. Hear the artists talk about their process at the Accelerate Session on 6 May. For more information, follow this link.
Ben Faircloth
Ben Faircloth is a painter, animator and illustrator based in Wales. His work explores absurdity, isolation and anxiety, whilst being rooted in the immediate community and accompanying social issues.
Ben graduated with an MA in Fine Art from Aberystwyth School of Art in 2021. He’s exhibited extensively in Wales and Sweden, and directs and animates music videos and animated segments for television and film.
Mariana Leal
Mariana Leal is a Portuguese animator based in London. Her work explores inner worlds and lived experiences through animated materials. She works with a range of techniques ranging from 2D animation and stop motion to projection installations. At the core of her work is a passion for connecting people through storytelling.
Mariana studied animation at the University of the Arts London, where she is now an Associate Lecturer, and graduated with an MA in Film Studies from King’s College London in 2022. She has been working in short form documentary and fictional animation, and compositing for long form film and television.
https://lealanimation.myportfolio.com
Eilidh Nicoll
Eilidh Nicoll is a Scottish animator based in London. She works predominantly in 2D hand drawn and digital animation with a love of mixed media, and her work often has an emphasis on process and exploring personal experiences.
Eilidh graduated with a BA Animation from Edinburgh College of Art in 2021. Her graduation film, Silvering, won the inaugural Young Scottish Filmmaker Prize and screened at over 40 festivals. She has since worked as an animator for stage, film and television, and information films and music videos.
eilidhnicoll.wixsite.com/animation
Dr Hannah Rumble
Dr Hannah Rumble is an academic, social anthropologist specialising in death, dying and disposal, both human and the more-than-human. Her research has addressed funeral poverty, the natural burial movement, direct cremation, the lived experiences of bereaved people in coroners’ courts and social care settings, as well as young people’s creative responses to death and places of disposal and memory.
Hannah’s most recent research was with the Institute of Crime and Justice Policy Research, Voicing Loss, focused on supporting bereaved people in Coronial investigations and at inquest hearings.
Hannah has co-produced films, art exhibitions and immersive installations with community arts partners, digital designers and filmmakers. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath, and an Associate of the Centre for Death and Life Studies at Durham University.