Resume
Heather D. Freeman
Professor of Art in Digital Media
Department of Art and Art History
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 2822
heatherfreeman@uncc.edu
Academic Website
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
1997
Oberlin College Studio Art and German Studies B.A.
1997
Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University Visual Art M.F.A.
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2006 - present
Assistant, Associate (2011), and Professor (2017) of Art (Digital Media). Department of Art & Art History, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte NC
2014 - 2022
Co-Director, D+ARTS (Digital Arts Center), College of Arts + Architecture, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte NC
2005 – 2006
Assistant Professor of Art. Clemson University (50% Art Department; 50% Rhetorics, Communication and Information Design), Clemson, SC
2002 – 2005
Assistant Professor of New Media. College of Fine Arts, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
SELECTED AWARDS
2022
Best Unscripted Podcast. 2022 New London International Film Festival. New London, NH. Familiar Shapes (podcast).
Finalist - Best Podcast. 4th Annual Astoria Film Festival. Astoria, NY. Familiar Shapes (podcast).
2017
Best Animation. UK Screen One International Film Festival. Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Artemis.
3rd Place for Best Animation. Artlightenment Art and Film Festival. Nashville, TN. Artemis.
2016
Nomination for Best Animation. Kerry International Film Festival. Killarney (Co. Kerry), Ireland). Artemis.
Honorable Mention. Fall 2016 New Jersey Film Festival. New Brunswick, NJ. Artemis.
SELECTED CREATIVE WORKS
2023
Mosaic (desktop app). Roles: Artist, divination system co-developer. Collaboration with Tres Henry. mosaicdivination.com (in beta)
2021
Familiar Shapes (film). 20-minute experimental documentary film, both live action and animated about social bots, early modern witches, and how the infotech of their ages both shaped and propelled them. Includes interviews with notable magical historians and technologists. familiarshapesthemovie.com and Vimeo Link
2021
The Piedmont Path. A Witchcraft Oracle of Contemporary North Carolina (chapbook). Theurgical Studies Press. Risograph (15 pages) Poetic exploration of regionalist witchcraft in the digital age. theurgicalstudies.cargo.site
2020
Familiar Shapes (serial podcast). Twenty-one 30-40 minute podcast episodes. Released biweekly April – September 2020. The series explores how contemporary social bots and the early modern witch’s familiar, were shaped by the infotech of their ages. Includes interviews with dozens of notable magical historians, computer scientists, sociologists, and communications studies scholars. Familiar Shapes Serial Podcast (also available on all major podcast providers
2016
Artemis (animation). Four-minute stop-motion animation of 3D prints. Symbolist narrative animation about what happens when a car hits a deer -- a devotional work to the gods Artemis, Apollo, and the ghost of Elvis Presley. Vimeo Link
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, FILM SCREENINGS, AND PODCAST PRESENTATIONS
2023
Various Locations. BOOM Charlotte! Fringe Festival. Live and Twitch-streamed divinatory readings with the Mosaic app. Forthcoming: April 20-22, 2023
2022
Saginaw Valley State University Galleries. Occulted: Prints and Animations by Heather D. Freeman. University Center, MI. Small retrospective exhibition of esoteric artworks from 2006 – 2022.
Online/The Landmark. 13th Annual New Media Festival. Los Angeles, CA. Familiar Shapes - podcast.
2021
Online. Bristol International Short Film Festival. Bristol, UK. Familiar Shapes – film.
Online. Rhode Island International Film Festival. Providence, RI. Familiar Shapes - podcast.
2017
Mole Vanvitelliana Cultural Center. PiGrecoZen FilmFest 2017. Ancona, Italy. Artemis – animation.
Trainon. Athens Animfest 2017. Athens, Greece. Artemis – animation.
Various locations. 8th International Festival of Animated Objects. Calgary, Canada Artemis – animation.
Film Row Cinema. 2017 Chicago Feminist Film Festival. Chicago, IL Artemis – animation.
Cité des Arts. 12th Annual Cinema On The Bayou Film Festival. Lafayette, LA Artemis – animation.
2016
Studio C. 19th Annual East Lansing Film Festival. East Lansing, MI. Artemis – animation.
Tivoli Theater. 25th St. Louis International Film Festival. St. Louis, MS. Artemis – animation.
Various locations. 57th International Short Film Festival - Brno 2016. Brno, Czech Republic. Artemis – animation.
Various locations. Portland Film Festival. Portland, OR. Artemis – animation.
SELECTED ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS
2022
“Liminal Means: Navigating experiential magic and the physical body within digital spaces.” Trans- States: The Art of Revelation. University of Northamption
“Liminal Means: Navigating experiential magic and the physical body within digital spaces.” (Revision of previous talk from Trans- States.) Future Bodies: 2022 New Media Caucus Symposium. Panel Session: Water, Non-human Ecology + Liminal Experiences. Virginia Tech University.
2019
“Stimulus: Facts <3 Fiction.” McColl Center for Art + Innovation. Invited Artist Presentation and Panel Discussion with Director of Photography Hamilton Ward and interview subjects Dr. Sean McCloud and Dr. Samira Shaikh. Charlotte, NC.
“Familiar Shapes: The Familiar and the Bot.” Betwixt and Between: Isobel Gowdie, The Witch of Auldearn. Museum of Witchcraft and Magic (Museum Annual Conference.) Boscastle (Cornwall).
2018
“Familiar Shapes: Social Bots and Early Modern Witches.” Society for Photographic Education, Southeast Regional Conference. Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC.
SELECTED MEDIA APPEARANCES
2021
“Spirits and Bots with Heather Freeman.” Arnemancy Podcast. Erik Arneson, host. Link
2019
“Bots and Familiars: An Interview with Heather D. Freeman”. Reality Sandwich. Interview with Tamra Lucid. Link
2018
“From Spirit To Social Bot: The Familiar Shapes Documentary.” The Thinkers Garden. Interview with Jonah Locksley. Link
2017
“The Carolinian Herbal: An Interview with UNC Charlotte’s Heather Freeman.” KeepingWatch.org. Interview with Meg Whalen. Link