Tess Martin is a film and visual artist based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She brings her perspective as someone who was raised between cultures to exploring themes of belonging, identity and connection. Her short films, videos and installations address our vulnerability: in relation to nature, the onslaught of time and the precariousness of memory. Tess has both a classical fine art and an animation background and these come together in her work: she pushes the conceptual potential of hand-made animation and the narrative potential of site-specific pieces.

Tess’ work has been exhibited at international galleries and festivals such as TOKAS Hongo (JP), International Film Festival Rotterdam (NL), Ann Arbor Film Festival (USA), and more. She was selected as an artist-in-residence at, among others, the Hawthornden Writer’s Retreat (Scotland, 2022), the Camargo Foundation (France, 2019), and the Bogliasco Foundation (Italy, 2017). Recent funders include the Dutch Film Fund, the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, the City of Rotterdam, the Center for Visual Art Rotterdam, and Rooftop Films.

Tess lectures occasionally at universities in the Unites States and the Netherlands. Between 2007 and 2016 she regularly curated short film programs worldwide, and between 2014 and 2021 she ran the monthly event series Manifest Animation Show & Tell in Rotterdam (and streaming globally). Tess holds a Master of Animation from AKV St Joost (NL), a BA Fine Art from the University of Brighton (UK), and she participated in the European Animation Sans Frontières professional training program 2015-2016.