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Artist and filmmaker Professor Celia L. Mercer animates the unexpected – rubbings of manhole covers, encaustic/collage paintings, children’s art on fabric, garden plants, photograms, paint splattered and dripped through stencils, and scrapes & scratches on film stock. These animated films are experimental in nature, sometimes abstract; sometimes figurative; they are also surprisingly accessible. There’s a sense of a common factor between them, something that makes them a bit familiar. There is the combination of a human touch with imagery that the viewer may sense they’ve seen someplace before; presented in an entirely new or unexpected way. These award- winning animated films have been exhibited internationally and competed in major film festivals. After receiving her MFA at UCLA in 1990, Mercer worked in the interactive industry as an art director and interface designer. In 1996, she returned to UCLA, as the first-time second Senate Faculty in Animation. Her teaching included the second-year MFA curriculum, Seminar in the Animated Film, and Thesis courses. |
Mercer served as Area Head of the UCLA Animation Workshop from 2006 until her retirement in 2019, a time of meaningful growth. During her tenure as Area Head, Mercer fulfilled a dream by adding a stop motion animation course to the Workshop curricula, initially as a one- quarter offering in a former animation crane room adapted to hold a single stage and taught by Mike Johnson (Corpse Bride). Mercer was soon able to expand this into a two- quarter offering in a larger classroom outfitted with three stop motion stages. The stop motion classes, now taught by Workshop alumnus Daniel Olivas, have not only supported the Animation students (MFA and undergrad); they have been become a popular elective for non-majors including students from our TFT sister department, the Theater program, resulting in remarkable films and launching numerous students into industry positions.As Area Head, Professor Mercer has had the honor (since 2009) of overseeing The Matt Groening Production Fellowship in Animation, which provides support to select MFA students in completing their animated films. The Fellowship has been wildly successful, resulting in a wide-ranging output of exceptional films. Following the success of this initiative, Matt Groening bestowed on the Workshop an Endowment allowing for programmatic enrichment, resulting in a Master Class series presented by diverse voices and practitioners. As Professor Emerita, Mercer has had the good fortune to continue working with the Animation program on these programs and more.