
RESIDENCIES & AWARDS
Cultivamos Cultura 2023
When you do a residency at Cultivamos Cultura, they ask for a piece of art that is made on the residency for their permanent collection so I really wanted to make something related to my project but also combining the history of the River Mira. I found some fascinating histories about the local River …
Art Aytana
Mellissa visited the Art Ayatana residency three times in the years 2015, 2017 and 2020. During these three residencies, Mellissa explored topics such as nocturnal wildlife, slime mould, and the fungal world. Mellissa produced pieces such as "Are We Disconnected?" and Immortal Grounds, pivotal works of her early career.
SMQB: Systems Modeling and Quantitive Biomedicine 2021
Meeting collaborators at the seedcorn event (February 2020) for SMQB's artist in residence groups for the first time to plan our projects and research for the 6 month residency completely changed a few weeks later when the pandemic hit the UK. With lockdown and the majority of the group deployed to work on covid wards, changing an extremely hands-on residency to remote and digital experimentation pulled my practice into new areas of inquiry.
Invisible world LAB 2018
Mellissa attended a residency at the Eden Project as artist in residence at the Invisible Worlds Lab, where she began a new line of research, unearthing the fascinating stories that lie within soil, experimenting with synthetic and natural dyes and developing ways in which to visualise the invisible world of plants....
RESIDENCIES & AWARDS
Arts Council England Project Grant - October 23 - September 2024
6 month project grant to develop art work surrounding obesity stigmas.
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A-N Bursary - October 23
Funding for continued professional practice and creative development.
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Arts Council England - Project Grant January - August 2023
Award to develop artwork surrounding invisible symptoms in a project titled ‘sense of symptoms’
Arts Council England DYCP Grant, January - September 2021
6 month development grant, focusing on learning new skills, strengthening connections with museums, curators and other artists to enhance my artistic practice as a result of covid-19.
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Birmingham University, UK Feb 2020 - Febrary 2021
Currently, Artist in Residence for the pilot Research Incubator project, working with a team to respond to research on themes of improving healthcare, communicating technology, and diagnostic algorithms.
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Art Ayatana - Mycophilia, Virtual Residency 2020
Group research residency exploring the world of fungi from artists all over the world via zoom in their own forests and sharing findings, learning from professionals in mycology from Cardiff University, Kew Gardens, and authors writing about fungi and bacteria.
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A-N Time & Space Bursary June 2020
Awarded to support creative practice during lockdown 2020.
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Palm Bay Primary School, Margate, July 2019 - PRESENT
Permanent Artist in Residence with a collective of artists where we run weekly makers clubs and enrich their school curriculum with creative ideas and support for staff and students' ideas.
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The British Society for Immunology Grant, January 2019
BSI funding awarded to begin the Pillcam project which is ongoing.
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The Eden Project, Invisible Worlds Lab, Aug 2018
Collaboration residency with Prof. Mark Clements in the Invisible Worlds Lab on plant biology and forming project Modified Madder.
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Art Ayatana - Nocturne, Ottawa, Canada, June 2017
Group research residency, focusing on sound and nocturnal life in Ottawa.
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Arts Council England Grant, March 2017
ACE funding awarded for project Microbial Michael.
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Art Ayatana - Biophilia Art & Biology, Ottawa, Canada, September 2015
Group residency, researching mycology and nature in the forest of Quebec, leading to the project Immortal Ground.