So, comrades, how is it that we do not understand that we have better things to do
than follow Europe?

– The Wretched of the Earth: Frantz Fanon

Ph.D Research question:

How Performance Art and Storytelling as narrative can break down
institutions induce racial trauma intersecting with gender, thereby building resilience to
challenge inevitable future traumatic events (encounters with racist institutions,
discriminatory laws, systemic misogyny).

Kate Collyer, a Buffalo-born artist and PhD candidate at Burren College of Art, explores environmental preservation through printmaking and walking-based art practices. After earning degrees from SUNY Potsdam and New Paltz, she has exhibited internationally, notably at the SMTG Krakow Printmaking Triennial. Her research, enriched by residencies in Norway, Canada, Spain, and Switzerland, bridges traditional printmaking with contemporary environmental advocacy. She currently resides in New York’s Hudson Valley.  

Research Question: 

How may walking as art practice foster collective stewardship with the natural environment?

Lea Farrell is a visual artist with a background in animation. She has a Diploma in Fine Art Painting Techniques and a BA(Hons) in Animation.  Lea is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD in studio art. Her art experiments with drawing, painting, and immersive media. Lea considers drawing and gesture as the main skeletal components of her work.  Her large-scale gestures examine the relationship between daily perceived reality in the face of changing digital stimuli.

Research Question: 

Examining the agency of the nuclear family in interaction with immersive technology.

My work encompasses matter provoking ideas and making, with roots in prehistoric bronze casting integrating ancient technology with a contemporary art practice.

I exhibit extensively nationally and internationally with work in private and public collections including The Danish State Collection, The OPW  and The RTE Collection.

I have worked with the National Museum of Copenhagen in Denmark on various projects. 

I am also a lecturer in Crawford College of Art and Design.

Research question:

TEK; (Traditional Ecological Knowledge) materiality, landscape and
memory – investigating extrativism and transforming material understanding through ancient technology and traditional knowledge.

Josephine Turalba, an interdisciplinary artist-researcher based in Manila and Boston, explores issues of divide and convergence within a volatile geopolitical landscape. Using play as a methodology, her work challenges power dynamics, examines the roots of trauma, and fosters empathy. Her nomadic engagement with performance, installation, experimental video, tapestry, photography, and painting reflects her deep obsession with sociopolitical narratives, myths, and personal histories, inspiring audiences to connect and engage in meaningful dialogue.

Research Question:

How can art through play transform traumas and navigate the complex layers of power dynamics, history, and violence in the West Philippine Sea?

JD Whitman is an ocean advocate, educator, and installation artist specializing in science communication for the plastic pollution crisis. Currently a third-year PhD researcher, JD works as an External Expert for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre(JRC) SciArt Project. She received an MFA in Photography, an MFA in Sculpture, and an MA in Studio Arts from the University of Iowa(2015-2019); and a BA from the University of Chicago(2013). 

Research Question:

How can transdisciplinary research and socially engaged practice disseminate plastic particulate research to facilitate informed eco-action?

Website: https://www.jdwhitman.com

Instagram: @jdwhitman