Pad (Dec 2020)
Playing with Time and Limits. Experiencing Ursula Ferrara’s Animation Process
Abstract
Ursula Ferrara’s body of animation work was made over the course of almost 40 years and lasts only 30 minutes in total duration. Working in solitude between Pisa and the hills of Lucca in Tuscany, she animates using her hands, frame by frame, painting and drawing onto large sheets of paper, cardboard and acetate, amongst other materials. She is recognized by many as one of the greatest living female animators, yet she is little-known outside of the animation community. Ferrara opened the doors of her studio during my doctoral research while she was working on three separate animated sequences for three independent documentaries. She was embracing the limited time available on these commissioned films as an opportunity to experiment with alternative techniques which would allow her to work faster and less inhibited, whilst remaining true to her own way of animating. Using primary research, collated through interviews and fieldwork, this article will reflect on Ferrara’s independent animation practice, the highly inventive ways she played with time and the various techniques and processes she employed during this period.
