VR pioneer and multi-faceted artist Lynette Wallworth has been selected as AFTRS’ inaugural Artist-in-Residence.
“I am so delighted and proud to announce Lynette as our first Artist-in-Residence. She is a truly innovative, inspiring artist and a world leader in cross-platform storytelling. Having Lynette with us, particularly during this challenging COVID period, is going to be exactly the inspiration and creative tonic we need,” said AFTRS CEO Dr Nell Greenwood.
With students now physically back at AFTRS under strict COVID-19 protocols, they have the benefit of access to Lynette and her wisdom through a weekly ‘open door’ where students are encouraged to seek mentorship from Lynette, ask questions and learn from her creativity.
The AFTRS Artist-in-Residence program invites the most talented, brilliant and creative storytellers in Australia to spend a semester at the School and have the space, support and facilities to reflect on and test their craft.
“Encouraging industry-wide innovation and experimentation, pushing boundaries, testing form, are all key to our purpose and we are so excited to support Lynette and the storytellers who follow her. As much as our remit at the School is to train new talent, we are also here for every tier of talent to further their knowledge and practice. As we adapt to a world of ongoing disruption, we all need to be fluid, reflective life-long learners. The Artist-in-Residence program gives those artists an opportunity to experiment and continue their learning journey,” Dr Greenwood said.
Ms Wallworth’s research project for the residency is exploring the creative potential of audio narratives.
“I am so thrilled to be offered the inaugural AFTRS Artist-in-Residence. It’s a challenging time, so exactly the time to open up to what the arts offer, a training in radical imagination. I hope my contribution to being at the School will be to help to support the imaginings of artists whose creative speculations can help us navigate a changing world,” Ms Wallworth said.
Lynette Wallworth is an Emmy and AACTA award-winning Australian artist/filmmaker whose immersive installations, VR and film works reflect on the connections between people and the natural world.
Wallworth’s work has shown in galleries and festivals worldwide and in film festivals including Sundance, Venice, London, IDFA, CPH:Dox, HotDocs, Sheffield and Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne film festivals.
Wallworth’s works include the interactive video installation Evolution of Fearlessness; the award-winning ‘fulldome’ feature Coral, with accompanying augmented reality work; AACTA award-winning documentary Tender, Emmy award-winning virtual reality narrative Collisions which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and the 2016 World Economic Forum, Davos and XR work Awavena, which premiered at Sundance and was in competition at the 2018 Venice Film Festival.
Wallworth has been awarded a UNESCO City of Film Award, the Byron Kennedy Award for Innovation and Excellence, in 2016 she was named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the year’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers. She has been awarded an International Fellowship from the Arts Council England, a New Media Arts Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts, the inaugural AFTRS Creative Fellowship, the Joan and Kim Williams Documentary Fellowship and the inaugural Sundance New Frontiers VR Fellowship.
Wallworth has been a frequent advisor to Sundance Institute Labs and the HIVE Labs in Australia. She is a member of the World Economic Forums’ Global Future Council on Virtual and Augmented Reality and a Trustee on the Board of the Sundance Institute.