Curriculum Vitale
Biography
Arianna Nixon is a visual artist, filmmaker and trans activist based in Magan-djin (Brisbane), working across installation, moving image, and performance. Her practice centres on analog video processes and experimental image-making.
She completed a Bachelor of Film (Post-Production) at SAE Brisbane in 2019, where her focus on editing developed into a broader engagement with experimental and non-traditional forms of cinema. Early works such as Dreamscape (2020) marked a transition from industry-based film practice toward a contemporary arts practice.
Nixon has exhibited across artist-run and institutional spaces in Magan-djin, including the Institute of Modern Art, Outer Space, and Wreckers Art Space. Her work often incorporates archival material, sculptural elements, and custom analog video techniques to produce familiar yet distorted environments, as seen in works such as In search of proof — file 1 (2026).
She is a frequent collaborator with Amy Sargeant, with projects including , CLIMATE OF VIOLENCE (2023), and CLIMATE OF VIOLENCE: LAMENTIUM (2025). This ongoing collaboration has played a significant role in the evolution of her practice.
Nixon continues to expand her portfolio through experimentation with analog systems, distortion processes, and sculptural practice.
Artist Statement
Arianna Nixon is a visual artist and activist from Magan-djin (Brisbane) whose work examines visual culture, gender, and cultural dissonance.
Using proprietary analog video techniques, Nixon deploys the Situationist method of détournement in performance and installation. Rather than subverting through inversion, her practice extends détournement into degradation, layering, and analog distortion, exhausting imagery through overstimulation.
Through a Marxist lens, this erosion reflects the accumulation of violence against trans communities under capitalism, operating through pressure and attrition. Her work is informed by her lived experience as a trans activist in Magan-djin.
Accolades & Awards
2025 Dorothy Birt Memorial Prize School of Creative Arts, Queensland University of Technology
Recognition of innovative and perceptive work in the field of multi-disciplinary art practice across a range of materials. Awarded to Amy Sargeant for work on Climate of Violence & Climate of Violence II: Lamentium with Arianna Nixon.
Education
2019 Bachelor Of Film (Post-Production) SAE Creative Institute Brisbane
Selected Solo Works & Exhibitions
2025 LAMENTIUM Digital illustration, apparel and promotional materials
2024 CLIMATE OF VIOLENCE Digital illustration, apparel and promotional materials
2022 complacency [loading] Web-based single-channel video artwork composed from multiple analog and digital sources
2020 Dreamscape (series) Web-based video artworks, contemporary & obsolete digital video sources
2019 Magpie by Elise Greig Promotional trailer, editing and VFX, Playlab Theatre
2019 Le Festival - Brisbane French Festival Promotional video, director & editor
Selected Group Works & Exhibitions
2025 CLIMATE OF VIOLENCE: LAMENTIUM Digital audio-based artwork, recorded live performance, streaming release
2025 CLIMATE OF VIOLENCE: LAMENTIUM Performance and installation-based 5-channel audio-visual artwork with multichannel sound; 9:16 LCD displays, analog–digital video & audio equipment, projection, pink textile (singed), Outer Space Brisbane
2024 CLIMATE OF VIOLENCE Digital audio-based artwork, recorded live performance, streaming release
2023 CLIMATE OF VIOLENCE Performance-based single-channel audio-visual artwork with multichannel sound, analog-digital video composition, Wreckers Art Space
2022 vigil in infrared Performance-based single-channel audio-visual artwork with multichannel sound, analog-digital video composition, Institute Of Modern Art
2022 complacency Performance-based single-channel audio-visual artwork with multichannel sound, analog-digital video composition, The Cave Inn Woolloongabba
2019 Just Friends - Video Avenue Web-based music video, director & editor
2018 Hollow Victories Web-based short documentary film, editor
2018 The Horse Web-based concept advertisement, editor
2018 Waves Web-based experimental video artwork, editor and VFX
2018 Quiet Space Web-based short comedy film, editor
Assisted Projects
2021 calm like a bomb Single-channel video installation (9:16 LCD display, found materials: bricks and sledgehammer. Outer Space Brisbane. Technical assistance for Amy Sargeant
2021 Quality Time with Dylan Fewings Web series, talk show format. Intro and promotional materials editor for Dylan Fewings
2019 The Untitled Interview Show Web series, talk show format. Intro and promotional materials editor for Dylan Fewings