Nyssa Collins
I am an interdisciplinary artist based in Knoxville, TN working mostly with puppets and stop motion animation. I make shadow puppet epics about deep time and technology, experimental animations about phenomenal consciousness, dioramas of the vernacular landscape, and giant creatures made from rubbish for public art commissions, video art, and absurd/heartfelt collaborations. My main interests/influences are popular science, story archetypes, and 20th century American systems and culture.
I have an MFA in Time Based Art/cinema studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I learned most of my important values about collaboration, mischief, and art for the people from my time at the giant puppet company Paperhand. I also studied piano at Humboldt State University. (BA Piano Performance).
