Alex Ramsay, Operations Coordinator

Alex Ramsay (he/him) is an award-winning journalist, editor, and video artist based in Hamilton, Ontario. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University and has previously worked in radio broadcasting, film programming, and arts administration.

info@factorymediacentre.ca

Huda Basit, Video & Media Intern

Huda Basit is currently pursuing a double major in Criminology, Law and Society, and Cinema Studies at the University of Toronto. With a passion for studying filmmaking and acting that began at a young age, she explores the intersection of visual storytelling and societal issues through her academic works. She not only has a strong interest in writing academic papers on films but also enjoys hands-on work, particularly filming and editing short videos for school projects. She hopes to continue developing these skills after undergrad and make a meaningful impact in film and photography.

Jessica A. Rodríguez (Outgoing Chair) is a multimedia artist, designer and researcher. She is currently studying a doctorate program in Communications, New Media, & Cultural Studies at McMaster. Her practice and research projects focus on audiovisual practices such as visual music, electronic literature, video experimentation, sound art, visualization/sonification, live coding, among others, collaborating with composers, writers, designers, and other visual artists. She is co-founder of andamio.in, a collaboration platform that uses digital and analogue technologies to explore with text, visuals, and audio. She is also part of RGGTRN, a collective that engages in algorithmic dance music and audiovisual improvisation informed by Latinx experiences. She has participated at Sound Though (2016/17 Glasgow, Edimburg), International Symposium of Electronic Art (2015 Vancouver, Canada / 2017 Manizales, Colombia), International Conference on Live Coding (2017 Morelia, México / 2018 Madrid, España / 2019 Limerick, Irlanda), Sound + Environment (2017 Hull, Inglaterra), New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (2016/17/19), SEGNALI (2017 Italia), Seeing Sound (2016 Bath, Inglaterra), among others.

Andrea Zeffiro (Incoming Chair) is a faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts and Academic Director of the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship at McMaster University. From 2014-2020, she was co-curator (with Mél Hogan and MC McPhee) of No More Potlucks (NMP), the online experimental publication and community platform focused on queer arts, politics and culture. Her previous work on immersive mobile experiences, responsive installations, and virtual and augmented reality has appeared in academic journals, edited collections, and exhibited at the Banff New Media Institute and the California Nanosystems Institute and in public spaces in Montréal, Toronto, and New York. Some of Andrea’s current research incorporates sound data, sonification, and speculative design practices.

Adrien Crossman is a queer and non-binary white settler artist, educator, and curator currently residing on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples in Hamilton, Ontario. They hold an MFA in Visual Art from the University of Windsor (2018), and a BFA in Integrated Media with a Minor in Digital and Media Studies from OCAD University (2012). Crossman is interested in the affective qualities of queerness, investigating how queerness can be felt through specific aesthetics and sensibilities. In addition to having exhibited across Canada and internationally, Adrien co-founded and co-runs the online arts publication Off Centre. Crossman is an Assistant Professor in the School of the Arts at McMaster University.

Adrienne Bazir is a bilingual video game developer, 2D animator, and cartoonist. She loves to dip her fingers in many pies – as long as a medium allows her to tell stories, she’s game. After doing her education in France and getting her BFA in Traditional Animation at Columbia College Chicago, she’s worked as a Senior 2D Animator in various studios since 2015, in both the United States and Canada. Alongside her animation work, she runs insertdisc5, a multimedia studio focused on storytelling. She has written and drawn many comics and zines, mostly digital and sold online. She’s interested in collaborative work, and has participated in works such as Animate-A-Grump, Rhythm Reanimate, and Fat Mermaids: A Collaborative Charity Zine. As an award-winning game developer, she has showcased her games at the Tokyo Game Show, Game Devs of Color Expo, and Hand Eye Society’s Wordplay Festival. Her latest game In Stars and Time, produced by Armor Games Studio, has been featured in the video game press on websites such as IGN, NintendoLife, Gayming Magazine, and Denfamico Gamer. She will be an Animation Course Director at York University starting in Winter 2024.

Mel Racho (he/him) is a queer trans Fillipinx media artist-scholar interested in creating revolutionary systems. He holds a Master of Information in Information Systems, an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art and Digital Media, and is currently a PhD candidate in Toronto Metropolitan University and York Universities’ jointly administered Communication and Culture program researching data colonialism and how to disrupt its logics through careful, embodied creative interventions. He contributes to York U’s Digital Justice Lab, the University of Ottawa and Carleton Universities’ Transgender Media Portal and the Digital Democracies Institute’s Data Fluencies project.

Teryn Lawson (she/her) is a Creative Producer and Hamilton-based Artist with a diverse background in the performing arts and visual mediums. With a specialty in arts-based marketing and production coordination, Teryn is also the co-founder of Runaway Productions, a media collective that produces Canadian audio dramas and immersive soundscapes. She is driven to challenge the traditional ways in which audiences engage with live performances by creating alternative and accessible venues. Her artistic practice explores the intersection of textiles and light experimentation to create multi-layered visual perspectives.

Ben Cumming (he/him) is an emerging interdisciplinary artist based in Hamilton. His practice explores the environmental changes on our planet. Central to his work is ideas of materiality and process. His practice involves ceramic and new tech, exploring the tension between natural resources and emergent media. Ben received his BFA from the McMaster University Studio arts program. Since graduation he has continued to work within Mcmaster as an instructional assistant, which involves aiding students. He has also been dedicated to expanding his own practice as a member of the Hamilton arts, recently working with Center 3 and screening his latest animation as part of the Fluxus festival, supported by Factory Media center, Hamilton Artist Inc, and McMaster University.

Ardyn Gibbs (they/them) is a Queer and Trans, Settler-Indigenous (Mohawk) Artist, Designer and Arts Worker located on the territories of the Haudenosaunee, Anishnaabe, and the Missisaugas of the Credit First Nation otherwise known as Hamilton, Ontario. Using digital new media technologies Ardyn’s work explores the themes of Queer Futurity, Digital Dreaming and Visibility/Legibility of Queer bodies in public spaces. They are a recent graduate of McMaster University’s Studio Arts Program (B.F.A.) with a Minor in Community Engagement. Ardyn is passionate about collective dreaming, placekeeping and fostering meaningful connections. Their work is constantly shifting, adapting and growing with the world around them.