In Dominica's practice as an independent visual artist, she exercises play as the main approach to creating work. Her work helps her to remain curious and open towards the world and its turbulences. Dominica is interested in storytelling as a mechanism of learning and social change. She draws back from the old forms of storytelling – the myths, the legends, the songs, and the cosmogonies.
Dominica has been working across the mediums of animation, printmaking, and performance since 2016. Her previous films have explored themes of connectivity and the subconscious, often through a poetic, abstract approach to storytelling; allowing the films to be accessible to a wider audience.
Her latest short film ‘Chado’ made with the support from BFI Network and longlisted for BAFTA 2021 has been shown in more than 40 international festivals and selected for Vimeo Staff Pick. As part of the presentation of the film Dominica has toured UK with two solo shows ‘Chado: Dreaming In texture’ showcasing printmaking work from the film.
Rather than looking at animation solely as a form of cinema, Dominica is interested in presenting her films in the art and design spaces, working in the middle between animation, art and installation.
Contact: effyharr@gmail.com
Selected Exhibitions
2024 1st - 30th June. Derby Print Open. Print Installations ‘Black Rock’ and ‘Paint My Eyes’ win 3 jury prizes. | Bank Mill Studios and Small Print Co, Derby, UK
29 Feb - 7 April. Royal Birmingham Society of Arts (RBSA) Print Prize biennale exhibiting ‘Black Rock’. | Birmingham, UK
2023 18 May. Book Signing for ‘Lovers Leap’. | Desert Island bookshop. Brooklyn, NY.
6th Aug - 31st Oct. 11th Douro Biennial | Douro, Portugal
2022 1st Aug - 30th Sept. 5th Global Print Expo Douro | Douro, Portugal
30th - 31st June. AGA: Lab residency show: Ut supra, sic ingfra | De Bouwput, Amsterdam, Holland.
2020 12th Sept - 7th Nov 2020, Chado: Dreaming In Texture, solo show | Leicester Print Workshop, Leicester, UK
6th Aug – 30th Aug 2020, Chado: Dreaming In Texture, solo show | Bath Artists’ Studios, Bath, UK
15th Feb -28th March 2020, International Megalo Print Prize Exhibition | Megalo Print Studio and Gallery, Kingston, Australia.
2017 1st - 10th December, Festival Of Print | The Art Pavilion, Mile End, London, UK
22nd June - 16th Sep 2017, IPCNY (International Print Centre New York): Just Under 100 | NY, United States
3rd Feb - 4th March, Art Now: Printmaking | Ann Arbor Art Centre, Michigan, USA.
2016 25th Aug - 30th Oct 2016, NEO: Print Prize | Neo: Gallery, Manchester, UK
June 2016, Illusions: Short Film in Screen Print, solo show | ECA, Edinburgh, UK
27 February - 5 March, SHORTS | Whitespace Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2014 Atmosphere | Peresvetov Pereulok, Moscow, Russia
Awards
2024
First Prize at RBSA Print Prize, sponsored by GMC Trust.
Judges Comments: A subtle etching taking into account the ritualistic aspects of printmaking, demonstrating originality in its exploration of visual storytelling in combination with animation, bringing the print alive in a new way.
2021
BAFTA 2021 Longlist in the category ‘Short British Animation’ for short film ‘Chado’.
Second prize at the 19th International Kansk Video Festival, Russia, for short film ‘Chado’.
2018
Shooting People: Short Cuts, December winner with short film ‘Illusions’
BFI Postroom: Pick of The Season for short film ‘Old Snake’
BFI NETWORK: We love Dominica's inventive short that surprised us in it's epic feel and strikingly bold style. Old Snake was awarded a NETWORK Pick after being featured in our Sping Best Of selection and judged by a panel made up of Simon Cartwright, Jez Stewart, David Kimbangi & Matimba Kabalika.
2016
‘Illusions’: NEO: Print Prize Award Emergent Trigger Award - Locomotion Animation Festival Best Animation - Feel The Reel Animation Festival RTS Scotland Student Award - Shortlisted
Publicity
2021 HOMMAGE Cinema: Feature on ‘Chado’ and Interview with the director.
Directors Notes: Premiere release of ‘Chado’ and interview with the director.
David Reviews: Review of ‘Chado’
2018 Insights Online Magazine: two articles by Dominica Harrison
2017 Russian Knowledge: Feature on the artist
Aesthetica Art Prize: Future Now catalogue
Printmaking Today: Spring 2017 - Issue 101, cover of the ‘Illusions’.
2016 DOCK Magazine: Interview with the artist and review of the solo show 'Illusions: Short Film in Screen Print'
INTERN Magazine: Feature on the artist
Residencies/Internships
RisoLab: Artistic development residency in risography publishing house, focusing on the production of an original comic. March - May 2023. New York, USA.
AGA Lab: 2-month artist-in-residency in print lab, focusing on intaglio and monoprinting techniques. May - June 2022. Amsterdam, Holland.
Micro Galleries: 4-month part-time multi-disciplinary artist residency program. 2021 (online)
CONA Foundation: A 10-day residency concentrating on intaglio printmaking techniques at the CONA print studio. January 2020. Mumbai, India
NEO:Studios and University of Bolton: Artist-In-Residence, working at the NEO print studios and Animation and Illustration course at the University of Bolton. January - February 2019. Bolton, UK
Club Del Prado: Risograph-centered residency, focusing on preproduction work for ‘Chado’. December 2018. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Blockhain Art Hackaton 2.0: Virtual Reality collaborative residency. October 2018. Kiev, Ukraine
The Monk Studios: 2D Animation internship. July - August 2017. Bangkok, Thailand
East London Printmakers: Project Keyholder 2-month residency. Nov - Feb 2016 London, UK
Jealous Studio: Screen Printing Internship. Jan - March 2016 London, UK
Talks/Lectures/Teaching/Workshops (Lead)
ACG International Art Education, online summer school and weekend short courses about animation, storyboarding and comics. 2021 - present. China
London College of Communication: Associative Lecture for Animation BA (Hons) and Animation MA courses. 2017 - present. London. UK
Camberwell College of Art, Associative Lecture for Foundation Art & Design course, October 2019 - May 2022. London, UK
Kingston University. Visiting lecturer on Multimedia Authoring and Design module. September - November 2022. London, UK
University of Creative Arts. Collaborative Comics and Animation and Print workshops. October 2020, Canterbury, London.
AGA Lab. Animation and Monoprinting workshop. June 2022, Amsterdam, Holland.
Leeds Arts University. Artist talk as part of ‘Visiting Professionals’ lecture series. January 2022. Online.
Kaalo 101. Collaborative comic workshops. August 2021; November 2021. Online
Manchester Metropolitan University. Artist talk as part of ‘In Conversation With Creatives’ lecture series. January 2021. Online
Leicester Print Workshop. In Conversation With Dominica Harrison. Talk organised as part of my solo show ‘Chado: Dreaming In Texture’. September 2021. Online. Recording of the talk can be watched HERE.
Exhibit 2020: Young Creatives Online Course. Workshop organised with KAN Collective and BEE Creative. July 2020. Online
Casa dos Quadrinhos: Visiting lecturer, presentation about personal practice, March 2018. Online
Filmhouse Cinema: A talk and Q+A after a screening of Loving Vincent as part of the Sprint Screenings program, March 2018. Edinburgh, UK
Edinburgh College of Art: Visiting lecturer, March 2018. Edinburgh, UK
East London Printmakers: Artist Talk Series. 27th Feb 2017. London, UK
Be There! Corfu Animation Festival: A retrospective of work as part of the animation competition jury member. March 2017. Corfu, Greece
Professional Development (Participant)
Prague Media School: Artificial Intelligence Summer Club. Investigating image, video and text based AI models. July - August 2023. (online)
Rencontres Audiovisuelles: Video Mapping Workshop and Festival. Creation of interactive projection mapped video game. Presented at Video Mapping Festival in March 2018. Lille, France.
SOHO Create: Portfolio review masterclass, April 2016. London, UK
Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab: EIFF Animation Lab program. June 2015. Edinburgh, UK
AniJam: 48-hour animation challenge. March 2014. Glasgow, UK
Contact: effyharr@gmail.com