artist statement

Marta Ferracin is an Italian born, Sydney based contemporary multimedia artist whose practice merges art, science and technology. Driven by an interest in ephemeral natural phenomena and material agency, she seeks to engender embodied experiences and heightened sensory responses to biological and artificial living habitats and microhabitats. By stimulating a phenomenological synthesis of life and living Ferracin encourages an actively sentient environment awareness. She connects and works with nature to enhance psychological wellbeing and, in turn, foster biodiversity through a mutually beneficial approach to coexistence.

Ferracin’s academic and artistic evolution began with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (with first class Honours) from the National Art School (2015), followed by a Master of Fine Arts, Arts and Social Sciences, from Sydney College of the Arts (2018). Her immersive installations have been documented in various solo and group exhibitions internationally and nationally. Highlights include receiving the award for the site-specific North Sydney Art Prize (2019), and the NSW Australia Council for the Arts grant in the Emerging & Experimental Career Development category, based at SymbioticA, Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts, Perth (2020-2021).

Since then, Ferracin has been developing and exhibiting her ongoing environmental research project Symbiont; an exploration of the evolutionary and environmental responsiveness of lichens, microorganisms, and microhabitats, with the intention of enhancing symbiotic relationships between humans and the environment.

Symbiont research project will continue during all 2023 and 2024 and will include one month Ars Bioarctica residency at Kilpisjärvi Biological station - Bioart Society, The University of Helsinki, Finland (2024).



 
2018   Master of Fine Arts, Arts and Social Science, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney
2015   Bachelor of Fine Art Honours (First Class), National Art School, NSW, Sydney
2014   Bachelor of Fine Art, National Art School, NSW, Sydney
2004   Bachelor of Design in Communication Design, Billy Blue School
    of Graphic Arts, Sydney - Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
solo exhibitions
2022   Symbiont: Reconnect, Airspace Projects, Marrickville, Sydney
2019   Coexistence, Factory49 Paris, Paris, France
2017   Spell, curator Vicky Browne, Sydney College of the Arts Galleries,Sydney
2016/2018   The Italian Talkative Square, Canada Bay Council, Art Pharmacy, Five Dock
2016   Marta Ferracin recent works, curator Gary Warner, Articulate project space, Sydney
2015   Whispering Colours, Factory 49, Sydney
    Techno Entheogen and Barato, curator Carla Hermann and Bernardo Jose’ de
    Souza, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2014   Without Gravity, MOP Projects, Sydney
group and two-person exhibitions
2021/2022   Eden Unearthed Art Price 2021, Eden Gardens, Macquarie, Sydney
2020   Northern Perspectives + Creative Studios, Gallery Lane Cove, Lane Cove, Sydney
2019   Production @The Factory, Factory49, Marrickville, Sydney
    Eden Unearthed Art Price 2019 , Eden Gardens, Macquarie, Sydney
    North Sydney Art Prize , Coal Loader, Waverton, Sydney
    Art 4 Peace, Stacks Project Space, Potts Point, Sydney
2018   Entropy, Culture at Work, Pyrmont, Sydney
    Eden Unearthed 2018, Eden Gardens, Macquarie, Sydney
    SCA New Contemporaries Sydney College of the Arts Galleries, Sydney
    Echoes 2: Transpositions SYD – BER , Rosalux Project Space, Berlin, Germany
    Ferret 1-2-3-4-5 , Articulate project space, Sydney
2017   Sentient (MFA), SCA galleries, Sydney
    MCA ArtBar, curator Julie Rrap, MCA, Sydney
    Solidarity, Articulate project space, Sydney
    Sculpture at Scenic World, at Scenic World, Katoomba
    Sculpture Otherwise, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba
2016   Articulate Turns Six: What Next? , Articulate project space, Sydney
    Invisible Matter, curator Bianca Hester, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney
    Playing with Perspectives, curator Art Pharmacy, Deloitte, Sydney
2015   Have Your Say, Articulate Project Space, Sydney
    Sync, curator Fernarda Lopes, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    Young Artists Initiative YAI-14, .M Contemporary Gallery, Sydney
  Feral, Articulate Project Space, Sydney
2014   1/2 Way, Library Stairwell Gallery, National Art School
    Digi-net#2, Cell Block Theatre, National Art School, Sydney
    Young Artists Initiative YAI-13, .M Contemporary Gallery, Sydney
    The Combine, DoubleYou Studio, Sydney
2013   BFA final year show, National Art School, Sydney
    Digi#1, Cell Block Theatre, National Art School, Sydney
    Nas Drawing Week Exhibition: Field Work to Folio, Xavier Art Space, Sydney
    The Grid, Project Space, National Art School, Sydney
    Vagina Dialogue, Library Stairwell Gallery, National Art School, Sydney
    Back to Paper, DoubleYou Studio, Sydney
2012   Landscape, Project Space, National Art School, Sydney
    Meeting Point, Xavier Art Space, Fonas, Sydney
awards/grants/prizes/certificates/selected finalist
2020   Grant recipient for the NSW Australia Council for the Arts - Emerging & Experimental Career Development category  
2019   Eden Unearthed Art Price - Highly Commended Award - sponsored by Eden Gardens
    North Sydney Art Price - winner Site Specific Award - sponsored by Australian Catholic University
2017   Cultural Competence – Aboriginal Sydney certificate, Coursera, The University of Sydney
    Selected artist Premio Arte Laguna, Reuse Recycle Reduce Paper as Art and Design, Venice, Italy
2015   Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours)
2014   Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Bachelor of Fine Art
2013   Winner, Ricia Marie Price
    Finalist, John Olsen Prize
2012   Winner, Blankcanvas Co Materials Award, 2nd Year painting student
    Winner, 2nd Year Drawing Award, Friends of the National Art School
2011   Winner, Jocelyne Maughan Sketchbook Price, National Art School
artist talks
2022   Artist talk Symbiont: Reconnect, Airspace Projects, Marrickville, Sydney
2020   Artist talk Coexistence, Gallery Lane Cove, Lane Cove, Sydney
2019   Sydney Science Festival, Culture at Work (CAW), Culture at Work, Pyrmont, NSW, Sydney
  Artist talk Echosonar, The North Sydney Art Prize, Coal Loader, Waverton, NSW, Sydney
2018   Artist talk Entropy, ART+SCIENCE Culture at Work, Pyrmont, NSW, Sydney
2017   ART+SCIENCE Connect, MAAS, NSW, Sydney
    Artist tour public talk, Culture Scout and Canada Bay council, Five Dock
residencies
2023   Ars Bioarctica, Kilpisjärvi Biological station, Bioart Society, Lapland, Finland POSTPONED 2024
2021   SymbioticA, The Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts, UWA, Perth (April- July 2021)
2018   ART+SCIENCE Culture at Work, Artist-led Australian Research Institute, Pyrmont, NSW, Sydney
2015   Largo das Artes International Art Residency Program, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
volunteering / assisting
2018   21st Biennale of Sydney , Cockatoo Island and Carriageworks, Sydney
2016   20th Biennale of Sydney , Cockatoo Island and Carriageworks, Sydney
    Lee Mingwei -Guernica in Sand (installation assistant), Carriageworks, Sydney
2014   19th Biennale of Sydney , Cockatoo Island, Sydney
    Kaldor Public Project #28: Roman Ondak , Town Hall, Parramatta, Sydney
    Naomi Troski artwork (installation assistant), Sydney Lyric Theatre, Pyrmont, Sydney
2012   18th Biennale of Sydney , Cockatoo Island, Sydney