Marta Ferracin
© Marcella Marziani
We exist for a unique mission in life. Since I was a child, I felt connected to nature with awe, as an adult I have become a contemporary artist to share an understanding of environmental awareness.
Artist statement
Marta Ferracin is an Italian born, Sydney based contemporary multimedia artist whose practice merges art, science and technology. Driven by an interest in ephemeral natural phenomena and material agency, she seeks to engender embodied experiences and heightened sensory responses to biological and site-specific artificial living habitats and microhabitats.
By stimulating a phenomenological synthesis of life and living Ferracin encourages an actively sentient environment awareness. She connects and co-works with nature to enhance ecological wellbeing and, in turn, foster biodiversity through a mutually beneficial approach to coexistence.
Ferracin’s academic and artistic evolution began with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (with first class Honours) from the National Art School (2015), followed by a Master of Fine Arts, Arts and Social Sciences, from Sydney College of the Arts (2018).
Her immersive installations have been documented in various solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Highlights include receiving the award for the site-specific North Sydney Art Prize (2019), and the NSW Australia Council for the Arts grant in the Emerging & Experimental Career Development category, based at SymbioticA, Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts, Perth (2020-2021).
Since 2021, Ferracin has been developing and exhibiting her ongoing environmental research project as an exploration of the evolutionary and environmental responsiveness of lichens, microorganisms, and microhabitats, with the intention of enhancing symbiotic relationships between humans and the environment.
Curriculum vitae
Born in Treviso, Italy
Lives and works in Sydney, Australia
Education/Qualifications
| 2018 | Master of Fine Art (Arts and Social Sciences), Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW |
| 2015 | Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) First Class, National Art School, Darlinghurst, NSW |
| 2014 | Bachelor of Fine Art, National Art School, Darlinghurst, NSW |
Exhibitions - solo
| 2024 | Convergences, Incinerator Art Space, Willoughby, NSW |
| 2022 | Symbiont: Reconnect, Airspace projects, Marrickville, NSW |
| 2019 | Coexistence, Factory 49 Paris, Paris, France |
| 2017 | Spell, curator Vicky Browne, Sydney College of the Arts Galleries, Rozelle, NSW |
| 2016-2018 | The Italian Talkative Square, Canada Bay Council, Art Pharmacy, Five Dock, NSW |
| 2016 | Marta Ferracin Recent Works, curator Gary Warner, Articulate project space, Leichhardt, NSW |
| 2015 | Whispering Colours, Factory 49, Marrickville, NSW |
| 2015 | Techno Entheogen and Barato, curator C. Hermann and B. J. de Souza, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 2014 | Without Gravity, MOP Projects, Chippendale, NSW |
Exhibitions - group
| 2025 | Earth 2025, Articulate project space, Leichhardt, NSW |
| 2024 | The Thing with Feathers, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown, NSW |
| 2021-2022 | Eden Unearthed, Eden Gardens, Macquarie, NSW |
| 2020 | Northern Perspectives + Creative Studios, Gallery Lane Cove, Lane Cove, NSW |
| 2019 | Eden Unearthed Art Prize, Eden Gardens, Macquarie, NSW |
| 2019 | North Sydney Art Prize, The Coal Loader, Waverton, NSW |
| 2018 | Entropy, Art+Science Culture at Work, Pyrmont, NSW |
| 2018 | Eden Unearthed, Eden Gardens, Macquarie, NSW |
| 2018 | Sentient I - SCA New Contemporaries, Sydney College of the Arts Galleries (SCA), Rozelle, NSW |
| 2018 | Echoes II: Transposition SYD-BER, Rosalux Project Space, Berlin, Germany |
| 2017 | Sentient, SCA galleries, Rozelle, NSW |
| 2017 | MCA ArtBar, curator Julie Rrap, MCA, The Rocks, NSW |
| 2017 | Sculpture at Scenic World, Scenic World, Katoomba, NSW |
| 2016 | Invisible Matter, curator Bianca Hester, Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle, NSW |
| 2016 | Playing with Perspectives, curator Art Pharmacy, Deloitte, Sydney, NSW |
| 2015 | Have Your Say, Articulate project space, Leichhardt, NSW |
| 2015 | Sync, curator Fernanda Lopes, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 2015 | Young Artists Initiative YAI-14, M. Contemporary Gallery, Darlinghurst, NSW |
Awards/Grants/Prizes
| 2020 | Grant recipient for the NSW Australia Council for the Arts – Emerging & Experimental Career Development |
| 2019 | Eden Unearthed Art Prize - Highly Commended Award - sponsored by Eden Gardens North Sydney Art Prize – Site Specific Award, sponsored by Australian Catholic University (ACU) |
| 2017 | Selected artist, Premio Arte Laguna, Reuse, Recycle, Reduce paper (RRR), Art and Design, Venice, Italy |
| 2015 | Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) |
| 2014 | Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Bachelor of Fine Art |
| 2013 | Winner, Ricia Marie Prize Finalist, John Olsen Prize |
Artist talks/Workshops
| 2024 | Artist talk with Marta Ferracin, Convergences, Incinerator Art Space, Willoughby, NSW Learn how to become a “local field naturalist”, Convergences workshop, Incinerator Art Space, Willoughby, NSW |
| 2022 | Artist talk Symbiont: Reconnect, Airspace projects, Marrickville, NSW |
| 2019 | Artist talk Coexistence, Gallery Lane Cove, Lane Cove, NSW Sydney Science Festival, Culture at Work (CAW), Culture at Work, Pyrmont, NSW Artist talk Echosonar, The North Sydney Art prize, Coal Loader, Waverton, NSW |
| 2018 | ART+SCIENCE Culture at Work, Artist-led Australian Research Institute, Pyrmont, NSW |
| 2017 | ART+SCIENCE Connect, MAAS, Ultimo, NSW Artist tour public talk, Culture Scout and Canada Bay council, Five Dock, NSW |
Residencies
| 2021 | SymbioticA, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA |
| 2018 | ART+SCIENCE Culture at Work, Artist-led Australian Research Institute, Pyrmont, NSW |
| 2015 | Largo Das Artes International Art Residency Program, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Volunteering
| 2018 | 21st Biennale of Sydney, Cockatoo Island, Sydney, NSW and Carriageworks, Eveleigh, NSW |
| 2016 | 20th Biennale of Sydney, Cockatoo Island, Sydney, NSW and Carriageworks, Eveleigh, NSW Lee Mingwei - Guernica in Sand installation, Carriageworks, Eveleigh, NSW |
| 2014 | 19th Biennale of Sydney, Cockatoo Island, Sydney, NSW and Carriageworks, Eveleigh, NSW Kaldor Public Project #28: Roman Ondak, Town Hall, Parramatta, NSW Naomi Troski artwork (installation assistant), Sydney Lyric Theatre, Pyrmont, NSW |
Masters of Fine Arts Thesis
ANIMOSA
An understanding of vibrant matter - towards an expanded creative field of awareness that may foster active phenomenological responses within different environments.
Research paper, 2018, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney
© Marta Ferracin 2025 Website by Natalia