Zhenia Mahdi-Nau

My research is in the state of flow and transcendence in the experience of screendance. This is a PaR research and my body of work will be mainly in film and visual arts, featuring movement and dance, and predominantly concerned with the felt creative experience, its transference and interconnection between artist as filmmaker and performer and the implications for the viewer.

For my Master's degree I investigated imagery and representation to reveal insights into emotions, perception and inner worlds. My research included making a short animated film with an autistic child, using her drawings, words and voice, offering a window into her perceptions and interior life. I researched theories in psychology, visual literacy and educational discourses within the framework of perception and imagery.

As a visual artist with a practice in painting, animation, photography and filmmaking, I have been consistently engaged with the intersection of artistic practice which focuses on form, and critical theory in the areas of perception, emotional engagement and higher consciousness.

I have made films that explore personal and cultural narratives in the context of the felt experience. These include feature documentary Tapestry of Colours (2012), short film Living in the Half Light (2009) and five short films (2015) screened by Belfast Film Festival and Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast.

In recent years, my interest in representing embodied emotions has led me to film and photograph contemporary dancers. In 2018, I undertook an arts residency at Tyrone Gutherie Centre, Ireland to develop a body of work in film, photography and motion graphics focusing on movement and the body and the felt experience.

I also have a City & Guilds Further and Adult Education Teachers' Certificate, and a Higher Surrey Diploma in Art and Design in Fashion Design.