Dr Sara Andersdotter

Bio

As a practice-based researcher, Sara’s research activities centre on relationships between photography and memory; research interests that have defined her practice since the early 2000s. Originally from Sweden, she undertook an undergraduate degree in Fine Art from the University of Newcastle, Australia, followed by a postgraduate degree in Fine Art from Norwich University of the Arts. Sara is also an Advance HE Fellow (FHEA).

In 2015, Sara completed a PhD in Fine Art at the University of the Arts London. Her practice-based thesis challenges existing metaphors of memory, especially those relating to photography, while putting forward an alternative framework for exploring the experience of memory in art practice. This framework draws on Deleuzoguattarian and Bergsonian theories, and is explored and tested through her lens-based installation art practice. 

In 2023, Sara’s research interests in photography and memory led to co-editing the book The Handbook of Research on the Relationship between Autobiographical Memory and Photography with academics at two other institutions; a substantial publication of current research by key practitioners and academics in the field. This book fuelled the organisation of a subsequent, UCA funded research symposium, Vestiges of Memory: an Exploration of Intersections between Photography and Autobiographical Memory, which took place at UCA Canterbury in 2024.

As a practicing artist, Sara has exhibited nationally and internationally since 1999. Her art practice is primarily image and installation based, using a range of different media, from photography, video and projections of still and moving images, to growing matter, bait camera footage, smell, heat, and the use of text-to-speech software.

Sara started working in Higher Education since 2005, when she taught photography and fine art. She has taught and led practical, theoretical and research modules across both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at different institutions in the UK, and has served as an External Examiner at numerous institutions. In 2016, she took on a programme director role to lead a large contextual and theoretical studies department with over 30 members of staff, delivering into over 20 different art, design and media courses.

Sara joined UCA as a Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication in 2020, where she teaches and leads units on the programme’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses. She takes an inclusive and collaborative approach to teaching and learning, and has worked on multiple projects where students have been invited to become active participants and collaborators, including curriculum design, development of new processes in the practices of teaching and learning, student-led publications, and a non-hierarchical journal of research.

Further information:

• Website: https://www.andersdotter.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sara.andersdotter.artist
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sara-andersdotter