Dominica Harrison

The ECA grad blurring the boundaries between illustration, animation and printmaking

It wasn’t until Dominica Harrison was introduced to moving image during a foundation course at Camberwell College of Arts that she had even considered animation as her principal discipline. Having always loved drawing, illustration or even graphic design seemed like the most natural path, yet the experience of this one module was formative, laying the foundations for many years to come.

Dominica’s stop frame animation leads to a fascination at the “kind of magic” when she presses play and sees ”separate images transform into a fluid movement”. Yet, each image is itself a work of art: Dominica combines illustration, animation and printmaking in each work to screen print every frame. After being introduced to the technique by a friend at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), where she was an undergraduate, the two collaborated on To and Fro, and later Dominica then created Illusions. When exhibiting the latter, she arranged each of the more than 400 A3 screen prints in chronological order, thrilled by “the ability to bring the frames from the screen into your hands [and] push the definition of what animation (and film) can be.”

Prior to Camberwell and ECA, Dominica grew up in Moscow, and counts the classic art training she had while there as invaluable in her quest to become a professional artist. While the teaching methods could be harsh, she developed a self-discipline that served her well when afforded the opportunity to explore her personal style more in Edinburgh, and collectively the two experiences have led to her creating the brilliant work shown below.

Such is the quality of her skill, Dominica is able to create for creation’s sake, finding pleasure in “creating completely new environments and creatures” rather than seeking to discuss “modern world problems” through her work. Instead, through harnessing the complete creative freedom of developing animations, she focusses on devising entire worlds of fantasy, illustrating them magnificently with all their attendant playfulness.

nicaharrison.com