I am a London-based animator and illustrator with a particular interest in stop motion animation.
I find comfort in charming storytelling and employing texture to create a tactile and warm quality to my work. Similarly in my stop motion work, I explore the capabilities of craft mediums such as needle felting and crochet.
Whilst these crafts were previously just hobbies, this process has made me realise how much I enjoy using these techniques within animation, something I wish to experiment with further in the future.
I find inspiration for my work in music, poetry, fashion, but also distinct time periods and settings, which are often my starting point with a character or story. Some themes I like to feature in my work are nature and the everyday vs the extraordinary, I also like to play on familiar motifs and tropes.
My final film Green possesses all of these characteristics, as we follow a young boy’s journey across the moors to slay a terrible dragon who has been causing problems for his village, however we soon learn not everything is as it seems. Historically, weaving and tapestry has been used to record stories, and so I felt the handcrafted elements of this film worked particularly well, as they were honouring the storytelling tradition but in a contemporary way.
Green is a stop motion film with 2D animated elements. The film was made using crochet and felted puppets, against a series of watercolour multiplane backdrops. The puppet’s features were digitally animated later on, as were several 2D scenes which punctuate the story in the style of an illuminated manuscript to match the film’s medieval setting.
The film features themes of power and corruption as well as social change. We follow a young boy as he sets off across the moors to save his village from despair by slaying a ferocious dragon, only to learn the truth is not what it seems. The materiality of the work as well as the character designs and colour palette, create appeal for a younger audience.