Laura Spark is an animator who blends stop motion, puppetry, and digital techniques into compelling performances, installations, and theatrical productions. Holding a BA Hons in Drama and an MA in Animation from the Royal College of Art, she explores the intricate interplay between space, stage, and screen.

Her commissioned AV performance work has featured at events like York Mediale, Flatpack Film Festival, and Light Up Lancaster, where she recently illuminated Lancaster Castle Gatehouse with a large-scale projection-mapped piece. Her films, including the recent Above All – Inside the Littlewoods Dream Factory (commissioned by Liverpool John Moores University and Metal), have been screened at festivals globally. Laura also contributes video design to theatre, with credits including Dundee Rep and imitating the dog.

Laura ‘s artwork is the Last Living Ferns of Mirchwood; an ancient mythical forest driven to extinction purely by being forgotten. As its stories stopped being told, its trees vanished one by one. Now all that remains is protected in an enchanted terrarium, a living shrine to the primordial wisdom of plant life. Ancient spores swirl like stardust and the song of entwining roots emanates from the towering relic. Housed in this eternal eco-system The Last Living Ferns unfurl over and over, enacting the memories of their mythic woodland home, bearing a message of hope and survival from another realm.

Laura explains, “The support from Light Up The North makes me excited to begin this journey. Brought to life with hand crafted models and stop motion animation, this mystical sanctuary acts as both a celebration and a warning – to never take nature’s irreplaceable magic for granted.”