I’m a filmmaker, artist, educator and Buddhist practitioner who facilitates presence and attunement with the sensate, desiring body. I work artisanally with hand-processed celluloid film and with video to make experimental and documentary films, kinesthetic immersive installations, artist books and performance that engage personal and social history. Of particular interest is the relationship between art practice and dharma practice. My work is shared and screened internationally at museums, galleries, film festivals, microcinemas, and backyards. I’ve been recognized with fellowships from the Flaherty Seminar, the Massachusetts Cultural Council (2019 Film and Video finalist; 2013 New Media/Installation fellow), and Scotland’s Alchemy Film Festival, am an Independent Imaging Retreat alum, and a recipient of a Lightpress Grant from the Interbay Cinema Society. I received a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, teach cameraless filmmaking, and am a member of Boston’s AgX Film Collective.

Solo Exhibitions and Screenings

2015 Blindsight. Boston Sculptors Gallery. Boston, MA. (A collaboration with sculptor Rosalyn Driscoll)
2013 All the Flesh of His Body. Sarah Doyle Gallery. Brown University, Providence, RI
2011 Hide Not Your Face. Interstitial Theatre. Seattle, WA.
2010 Journey from Longjiang. Artspace. New Haven, CT
2009 Consumed. Wunderarts Gallery. Amherst, MA
2007 Closing the Gap: New Paintings by Sarah Bliss. A.P.E. Gallery. Northampton, MA
2006 Paintings by Sarah Bliss. Hitchcock Center. Amherst, MA

Festivals, Commissions, Group Screenings and Exhibitions

2024 Ann Arbor Film Festival. Ann Arbor, MI.
2024 Engauge Experimental Film Festival. Seattle, WA
2024 CINEAUTOPSIA. Bogotá Experimental Film Festival. Bogotá, Columbia
2024 FLIGHT/Mostra Internazionale del Cinema de Genova. Genoa, Italy
2024 Peripheries Experimental Film & Video Festival. Chicago, IL
2024 Gravitational Lensing. Shapeshifters Cinema. Oakland, CA.
2024 Montreal Underground Film Festival. Montreal, Canada.
2024 West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival. Morgantown, WV.
2024 Athens International Film and Video Festival. Athens, OH.
2024 Wide Open Experimental Film Festival. Oklahoma City, OK.
2024 Dresdner Schmalfimtage. Dresden.
2024 Experiments in Cinema. Albuquerque, NM.
2024 Fisura. Mexico City, Mexico.
2024 100 Years of 16mm. Emerson College, Boston, MA.

2023 Transient Visions. Binghamton, NY.
2023 Single Frame. Durham, NC.
2023 Art of Handmade Photography. Brattleboro, Vt.

2022 An Ordinary Day Film Festival. Stockholm, Sweden.

2021 AXW Film Fest. Anthology Film Archives. New York, NY.

2020 Visions in the Nunnery. London, England.
2020 Mimesis Documentary Festival. Boulder, CO. Streaming.
2020 Two Rivers Cross-Cultural Documentary Cinema. Koblenz, Germany.
2020 Braziers International Film Festival. Braziers Park, England.
2020 Analogica Selection 9 streaming.
2020 Fracto streaming.
2020 Experiments in Cinema. Albuquerque, NM.
2020 Athens International Film and Video Festival. Athens, OH.
2020 Best Shorts from the 2019 Moviate Underground Film Festival. Harrisburg, PA.
2020 Experimental Response Cinema: Over and Out. Austin, TX.
2020 33. Stuttgarter Filmwinter. Stuttgart, Germany.
2020 Portland Underground Film Festival. Portland, OR.
2020 AXW Film Fest. Anthology Film Archives. New York, NY.

2019 KLEX: Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film + Music Festival. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2019 Woosuk Gallery at Seoul National University, South Korea. Invitational exhibition hosted by the Korean Society for Media Arts.
2019 Poetic Light, a program of media on the outdoor public Media Façade in the Asia Culture Plaza. Gwangju, South Korea.
2019 Analogica Selection 9. Bolzano, Italy.
2019 Engauge Experimental Film Festival. Seattle, WA.
2019 Nomadica. Bologna, Italy.
2019 Antimatter [Media Art]. Victoria, BC, Canada.
2019 Transient Visions Festival of the Moving Image. Binghamton, NY.
2019 Strangloscope Mostra Internacional. Florianopolis, Brazil.
2019 ARKIPEL Jakarta Intnl Documentary + Experimental Film Festival. Jakarta, Indonesia.
2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Scotland.
2019 Venice Biennale. Curated by Kisito Assangni
2019 Fracto Film Encounter. Berlin, Germany.
2019 Montreal Underground Film Festival. Montreal, Quebec. Jury award: Honorable Mention.
2019 TIFF. Part of the exhibition Film Farm: 25 Years of the Independent Imaging Retreat. Toronto, Ontario.
2019 Moviate Underground Film Festival. Harrisburg, PA.
2019 Revolutions Per Minute Film Festival. Boston, MA.
2019 Shaking the Frame: Experimental Film from AgX. Clark University. Worcester, MA.
2019 West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival. Morgantown, WV.
2019 University of Tampa Videoarts Festival. Tampa, FL.

2018 Recent Works/Obras Recientes from AgX. Kino Palais. Buenos Aires.
2018 AXW Film Fest. Anthology Film Archives. New York, NY.
2018 Transient Visions Film Festival. Binghamton, NY.
2018 Peking University. Beijing China.
2018 Time is Love.11 [Show 5]. Motoco Art Contemporain. Mulhouse, France. Curated by Kisito Assangni.
2018 tran’spoz. Pix Gallery. Toronto, Canada.
2018 Time is Love.11 [Show 4]. Ex-New Contemporary Art Center. Sulbiate (Milano), Italy. Curated by Kisito Assangni.
2018 Time is Love.11 [Show 3]. Casablanca International Festival of Video Art. Casablanca, Morocco. Curated by Kisito Assangni.
2018 Athens International Film Festival. Athens, OH.
2018 Sleeping Giant Film Festival. Jacksonville, FL.
2018 Time is Love.11 [Show 2]. Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland. Curated by Kisito Assangni.
2018 Time is Love.11 [Show 1]. Lily Agius Gallery. Sliema, Malta. Curated by Kisito Assangni.

2017 MUFF Montreal Underground Film Festival. Montreal, Canada.
2017 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center's outdoor 7-screen LED Marquee. Boston, MA. A collaboration with choreographer Cynthia McLaughlin. (commission)
2017 West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival. Morgantown, WV.
2017 Boston Short Film Festival. Boston, MA.
2017 Unexposed Film Festival. Durham, NC.
2017 Northampton Film Festival. Northampton, MA.

2016 Bideodromo Experimental Film Festival. Bilbao, Spain.
2016 Twisted Oyster Film Festival. Chicago, IL.
2016 Alchemy Film Festival. Hawick, Scotland.
2016 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center's outdoor 7-screen LED Marquee. Boston, MA. (commission)
2016 Temporal Currents: Experimental Film and Sound. Waterworks Museum. Boston, MA. Site-specific 16mm film sculpture-installation and live sound event.
2016 Fieldtone Sound and Sight Immersive. Brattleboro, VT.
2016 Boston Screen Fest: Alternative Reality. Samsøñ Gallery, Boston, MA.
2016 Boston Screen Fest: Alternative Reality. Guyer Art Barn, Hyannis, MA.
2016 Boston Screen Fest: Alternative Reality. AgX, Boston, MA.

2015 Transideology: Nostalgia. Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan. Curated by Ming Turner.
2015 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center's outdoor 7-screen LED Marquee. Boston, MA. (commission)
2015 Seattle Art Fair. Via6 special event curated by Julia Greenway. Seattle, WA
2015 Shorts in the Square. Congress Square Films Portland, ME.

2014 In Motion. Airspace Projects. Marrickville, Australia.
2014 Alchemy Film Festival. Hawick, Scotland.
2014 Fotografia Transversa. Fundação Vera Chaves Barcellos, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Curated by Adolfo Montejo Navas.
2014 Seattle True Independent Film Festival. Seattle, WA.
2014 Kinokophonography curated sound cinema. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. New York, NY.
2014 Side Effects. PCS 80. Holyoke, MA.
2014 Interstitial Theatre at LxWxH. LxWxH Gallery. Seattle, WA

2013 Trans-ideology Film Festival: Nostalgia. Berlin, Germany.Curated by Ming Turner.
2013 Video by Night. Creon Gallery. New York, NY
2013 Fridge Art Fair Miami. Miami, FL
2013 Rinse|Reuse|Repeat. Belltown Collective. Seattle, WA
2013 A Trapped in Your Mind Feeling. Aggregate Space, Oakland, CA. Curated by Lucy Puls.
2013 Interstitial Theatre Mobile Screen Tour. Seattle, WA
2013 Esalen Arts Center, Esalen Institute. Big Sur, CA
2013 The Uncanny Pioneer Valley: Performance Art for the Camera. Parsons Hall Project Space, Holyoke, MA

2012 Stamina. WORK Gallery. Detroit, MI
2012 Invested Landscape. Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA
2012 Amherst Biennial. Amherst, MA
2012 Taking it to the Streets. Worcester, MA

2011 Painting with Pictures. ArtJail Gallery. New York, NY
2011 ESTADOS ALTERADOS/Altered States. Espaço Cultural ESPM. Porte Alegre, Brazil
2011 Zeroplan performance series. Wiresounds at Mobius. Boston, MA
2011 Exquisite. (3 person show) University Gallery, Univ of Mass., Dartmouth. New Bedford, MA.
2011 Portraiture: Inside Out. Walsh Gallery, Seton Hall University. S. Orange, NJ
2011 Material/Image. Reynolds Gallery, Univ of the Pacific, Stockton, CA
2011 Material/Image. Brickhouse Gallery, Sacramento, CA.

2010 Fracking: Art and Activism Against the Drill. Exit Art. New York, NY
2010 What Matters Most? Exit Art. New York, NY
2010 Tempo. Manifest Gallery. Cincinnati, OH.
2010 I-95 Triennial. University of Maine Museum of Art. Bangor, ME
2010 Amherst Biennial. Amherst, MA
2010 Here. APE Gallery, Northampton, MA
2010 Pleasant St Industrious. Easthampton Center for the Arts. Easthampton, MA
2010 House Show. Blackwell Gallery. Northampton, MA

2009 Decadence and Decay: The Mansion Project. Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers Univ. Newark, NJ
2009 Out-of-Towners. PCS 80. Holyoke, MA. Site-specific installation
2009 Color Matters. South Shore Art Center. Cohasset, MA. Juror: Jen Mergel, Associate Curator, ICA Boston
2009 Archetime. Tank Space for Performing and Visual Arts. New York, NY
2009 Aferro Benefit. Gallery Aferro. Newark, NJ
2009 Art into Life/Life into Art. Pen and Brush Gallery. New York, NY
2009 Gentling the Bull. (Scenery for multimedia puppetry performance.) Maezumi Institute. Montague, MA

2008 Small. Wunderarts Gallery. Amherst, MA
2008 Fine Arts 2008. Mills Pond Gallery. St. James, NY. Juror: Tina Kukielski, Curator, Whitney Museum
2008 Aftermath. Target Gallery. Alexandria, VA
2008 Juxtapositions. Greenfield Community College. Greenfield, MA
2008 On Paper II.The Bushnell. Hartford, CT

2007 Red. Kathryn Schultz Gallery. Cambridge, MA. Juror: Jane Farver, Director, MIT List Visual Arts Center
2007 14th Annual Juried Show.Essex Art Ctr. Lawrence, MA. Juror: Carole Ann Meehan, Curator, ICA Boston
2007 Works on Paper. Northampton Center for the Arts. Northampton, MA

Curatorial Projects

2022 Up and Down the River. Montague, MA. 89-minute program of experimental and artist film on place and placemaking by filmmakers living along the Connecticut River. Co-programmed with David Bendiksen.
2019 Shaking the Frame: Experimental Film from Boston’s AgX Film Collective. Clark University. Worcester, MA.
2017 From the Farm. 73-minute program of 13 hand-processed experimental films from the Independent Imaging Retreat, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers. Alchemy Film Festival, Scotland.
2017 Stretching the Frame: Death, Dying and the Material Body. 82-minute program of 12 experimental films from the AgX Film Collective. Northampton Film Festival, Northampton, MA.

Awards, Grants and Fellowships

2021 Lightpress Grant. Interbay Cinema Society.
2019 Massachusetts Cultural Council Film and Video Fellowship finalist
2019 Montreal Underground Film Festival Jury Award: Honorable Mention
2017 Northampton Arts Council grant for Direct Animation filmmaking project.
2017 Flaherty Film Seminar Fellowship. Sponsored by the LEF New England Foundation.
2014 Univ. of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center Residency Grant 2015 for "The Embodied Voice"
2013 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in New Media/Sculpture/Installation (with Rosalyn Driscoll)
2012 Azorean Prize of Plastic Arts. “Best Group Show in Porte Alegre, Brazil” for Estados Alterados.
2010 Northampton Arts Council grant for group show "Here"
2010 School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Full MFA merit fellowship.
2009 VSC full fellowship supported by the Dedalus Foundation. Vermont Studio Center.

Residencies

2016 Independent Imaging Retreat: Phil Hoffman's Film Farm. Ontario, Canada
2013 Alchemy Film Festival Moving Image Residency. Ettrick Valley, Scotland
2012 The Cill Rialaig Project. Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry, Ireland
2009 Vermont Studio Center. Johnson, VT

Visiting Artist, Presentations, Artist Talks

2019 Amherst College. Amherst, MA. Documentary Production: Place and Space class visit.
2019 University of Dundee. Dundee, Scotland. Visiting artist and direct filmmaking workshop.
2019 Clark University. Worcester, MA. Visiting artist and direct filmmaking workshop.
2017 Clark University, Worcester, MA. Visiting artist and direct animation filmmaking workshop.
2017 New England Media Graduate Students Symposium, Emerson College. Boston, MA. Panel moderator.
2015 Marlboro College. Marlboro, Vermont. Visiting artist.
2015 Valley Art Salon. Turners Falls, MA. Artist presentation.
2013 Greenfield Community College. Greenfield, MA. Artist talk.
2011 University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Amherst, MA. Artist talk.
2011 Greenfield Community College. Greenfield, MA. Artist talk.
2010 Roger Williams University. Bristol, RI. Visiting artist.
2009 Wunderarts Gallery. Amherst, MA. Artist talk.

Bibliography

Bendiksen, David. Review: Sarah Bliss: Unless You're Living It. Millennium Film Journal. No. 76, Fall 2022.
Fifield, George. The New Wave of Public Art: Art on the Marquee. Art New England. March/April 2016.
Carlock, Marty. Sarah Bliss, Rosalyn Driscoll, and James Wyness. Boston Sculptors Gallery.(featured images and review.) Sculpture magazine. November 2015. pp 73-74.
McQuaid, Cate. A Dreamlike Blindsight. (featured review.) The Boston Globe. June 30, 2015.
Art Sake. Three Stages: Sarah Bliss and Rosalyn Driscoll. (featured image and interview). Massachusetts Cultural Council Blog. Boston, MA. July 2, 2015.
Cornwell, Tim. Going to the dogs:‘Taskafa, Stories of the Street’ at the Alchemy Film Festival. (featured images and review.) Cornucopia Magazine. April 14, 2014.
Ast, Olga et. al. Reflections on the First ArcheTime Cross-Disciplinary Conference and Exhibition, June 2009. Kaleidoscope: The Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Journal of Durham University’s Institute of Advanced Study. November 2013. Vol. 5:2.
Norton, Claudia, and Stockman, Grier. Hands on Rawhide: A Conversation with Sarah Bliss, (featured interview.) The College Hill Independent. March 8, 2013.
Leger, D-Ray. 'Exquisite' Exhibit is Just That, The Torch, March 3, 2011.
Morell, Greg. Amherst Biennial, Artscope. Nov/Dec 2010. pp 40-41.
Wells, Bonnie. Reflections on Art in Expected and Unexpected Places, (featured images and review.) Daily Hampshire Gazette, December 1, 2010.
UMaine Museum of Art Shows Work of 44 Artists, Portland Press Herald, May 11, 2010.
Hoffman, Hank. Thursday Night Opening at Artspace, Connecticut Art Scene. May 5, 2010.
Reder, Selena. TEMPO Review: Manifest Gallery Exhibition Reflects on Time, Cincinnati City Beat, May 5, 2010
Doan, Abigail. Eco Art: New York Times Dot Earth and Ecoartspace Ask 'What Matters Most?', Inhabitat - Design Will Save the World, May 1, 2010.
Beem, Edgar Allen. The Interstate-95 Triennial: University of Maine Museum' of Art's Road Show, Yankee Magazine. April 28, 2010.
Bloch, Jessica. Making Connections Through Art, Bangor Daily News. April 27, 2010.
Scannel, Caroline The Misleading Pleasure of Consumption, Massachusetts Daily Collegian, April 9, 2009

Publications

The Cat Cinderella (podcast).Language and Loss in Ireland: Sarah Bliss.October 15, 2012.
Decadence and Decay: The Mansion Project; Rutgers University. Exhibition catalog, pp 42-43, 2009
Infinite Instances: Studies and Images of Time. MBP/Random House. 2011. pp 190-191 and 244-245
International Drawing Annual 5. Manifest Gallery, Cincinnatti, OH. 2011. pp 55-58
Interstitial Theatre: Featured Artist: Sarah Bliss. August 4, 2011.
Lake Hitchcock Center for the Arts Book 1: The Uncanny Pioneer Valley. Parsons Hall Project Space publication. Holyoke, MA. November 2013.
Making the Art Seen. Featured Artist: Sarah Bliss. November 10, 2011.
Massachusetts Review: Casualty. (featured images) University of Mass. Press, Fall 2011.
Studio Visit Magazine, Spring 2009, Volume 6. (featured images). Boston, MA. pp 14-15

Critical Writing

Jerusalem: Susanne Kessler. Critical essay published by the Katzen Museum at American University. 2015. Translated into German and published on the Goethe Institute’s website: http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/ver/en14914478v.htm (English version.)

Teaching

2015 Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA. Intermediate Video.
2001-04 Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. Courses in Ecopsychology, Art History.

Collections

Fundacao Vera Chaves Barcellos, Porto Alegre, Brasil.

Education

1994 Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA. M.Th.
1985 Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH. B.A.

Professional Affiliation

AgX Filmmakers Collective. Boston, MA