is a Glasgow based artist, researcher and creative producer for XR documentaries. They are currently completing a practice based PhD at the University of West Scotland exploring gender and embodiment in VR Non-Fiction.

XR work Tessa produced has exhibited internationally (Sheffield DocFest, Raindance, OpenCity DocFest[UK] Future Of Storytelling [USA], Melbourne International Festival [Australia], DocMontevideo [Uruguay] & Noviembre Electrónico [Argentina]). In 2020, Tessa produced and directed ClubXXY, a web based VR community research project which meditated on lockdown, queer clubbing and the metaverse. In 2022, Tessa produced the animated VR short Kindred; a docu-fiction about LGBTQ+ families and adoption, supported by StoryTrails, StoryFutures, the BFI and the BBC. Also in 2022, Tessa received SGSAH academic funding and UK Creative Clusters funding to research and develop With These Hands, an embodied VR installation which shares challenging, complex and under discussed stories of sexual assault. Made in consultation with survivor-led organisation SLEEC, the project benefited from a period of research at the Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies at Malmö University Sweden. A prototype of With These Hand’s premiered at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in November 2022. In all their work Tessa is interested in audience accessibility and care, and democratising access to VR production. 

Video Introduction from 2020 Research Fellowship ↓