Corrie Francis Parks
Corrie Francis Parks brings life to the inanimate through frame-by-frame manipulation of physical materials. Animating with one hand under the camera and the other on the computer keyboard, her films and photography maintain an organic connection to traditional production methods while fully integrating digital technology.
She studied animation at Dartmouth College and received her MFA from University of Southern California. Now an Assistant Professor of Animation at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Parks continues to research animation from a practitioner’s perspective. 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.
Parks has been artist in residence at the MacDowell Colony, Fundación Valparaíso and Klondike Goldrush International Historic Park, a Fulbright Fellow to New Zealand, and a grant recipient from the Montana Film Office. Her award-winning animated shorts have screened at Annecy, Hiroshima, Ottawa, Zagreb, and at major festivals on every continent except Antarctica. She looks forward to the day when she can count penguins among her biggest fans.