Mia Forrest

Mia Forrest (b. 1987) is an artist based in Australia.  Her film work explores poetic and surreal ways to expand time.

Her work has exhibited at Vellum LA, Cannes AVIFF Art Festival, Channels International Biennial of Video Art at the Australian Center for Moving Image, Queensland Film Festival, and Aesthetica Film Festival.

In 2022 Mia released Bloom II – a time-based motion project that uses slit scan photo imaging + time remapping to evoke new ways of seeing nature morph. It exhibited as part ot the Vellum LA X Artsy “Artists Who Code” exhibition, coinciding with Women’s History Month and NFT LA. Artworks from Bloom II have since been licensed by Standard Vision and Artpoint for commercial public art displays.

Mia’s work has been recognized by the Photo Collective Australian Photography Awards Documentary Category (finalist 2021), the Queensland Music Awards Music Video Category (finalist 2016, 2020), and has been acquired by RawDAO.

Mia’s most recent music video direction explores social and mental health issues, collaborating on two music videos with Northern Rivers recording artist, Moreton.

‘See Yourself’ addresses mental health stigma. The music video was shot entirely on Kodak 200T 16mm film and features a small street cast group of people who volunteered to sit for the camera in a stark upfront audition tape style frame, perfect in their imperfections, vulnerability, and honesty. Given there was limited film stock and roughly 5 minutes with each character, Mia strategically rolled the camera between “takes” – unbeknownst to the characters – with the desire to capture their natural state of vulnerability, rather than a staged performance.

Before moving to the Northern Rivers, Mia worked for Brisbane International Film Festival as a programmer, a projectionist at the Australian Cinematheque, and with Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art within the in-house digital production team.