Corrie Francis Parks brings life to the inanimate through frame-by-frame manipulation of physical materials. With one hand under the camera and the other on the computer keyboard, her films and installations maintain an organic connection to traditional production methods while fully integrating digital technology. She is Associate Professor of Visual Arts at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Her book, Fluid Frames: Experimental Animation with Sand, Clay, Paint and Pixels, explores the tactile nature of moving malleable materials directly under the camera, bringing together traditional and digital workflow through interviews with contemporary animators and workshop-style exercises.
Artist Bio
Corrie Francis Parks is an inventor of animation techniques. Adopting an investigative studio practice where subject collides with substance, each project builds upon the discoveries made in the previous, making the arduous process of frame-by-frame creation engaging. The results of this studio research manifest not only in short films, but in expanded animation projects that involve projection mapping, site-specific installations, augmented reality and collage.
In addition to her award-winning short films, which have screened at Annecy, Hiroshima, Ottawa, Zagreb, and other major festivals around the world, Parks has created projection-based installations for Light City Baltimore (2016), International Media Art Biennial SEE DJERBA in Tunisia (2019), UnDARK Festival in Russia (2019), “The People’s Projector” at the Daniels & Fisher Tower in Denver (2021), and the Water Light Festival in Italy (2024).
Parks has been artist in residence at the MacDowell Colony, Bogliasco Foundation, subnet Austria, Fundación Valparaíso and Klondike Goldrush International Historic Park. She has received Fulbright Fellowships to New Zealand and Austria and is a recipient of a 2019 Maryland Individual Artist Award. Her book, Fluid Frames: Experimental Animation with Sand, Clay, Paint and Pixels (2016) explores the tactile nature of moving malleable materials directly under the camera, bringing together traditional and digital workflow through interviews with contemporary animators and workshop-style exercises.
Parks has been creating animation since her teenage years. She designed her own major in Animation at Dartmouth College (2001) and subsequently received her MFA in Animation and Digital Arts from University of Southern California (2006). She is now an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where she encourages animation students to expand their understanding of the art of movement.
