ARBELLA MATHAMS
ANIMATION PORTFOLIO
What shapes my work
I actively seek out exhibitions, films, and cultural spaces that challenge my visual thinking and expand my creative vocabulary. These experiences influence my approach to animation, storytelling, and design.
Across all of these experiences, the key idea is input. Creative work is shaped by what we see, read, and experience. These influences continue to inform how I think and create, giving me a foundation to develop new ideas and push my work further. All these experiences and more do and will form the visual and emotional vocabulary I draw from when animating, designing characters, or building worlds.
Tim Burton Exhibition, London
This was a luxurious deep dive into Tim Burton’s sketchbooks, puppets, and character concepts. His exaggerated silhouettes, stitched forms, and gothic tone encourage me to push ideation and stylisation further in my own character work. I found myself remembering a Dickens Christmas experience at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. I think it resurfaced because both spaces create complete narrative worlds, reminding me how environment and character design feed each other. Additionally, both spaces shared a sense of theatre where exaggerated detail invites pulls you deeper into the world.
David Hockney Exhibition, Paris
David Hockney’s bold use of colour and digital landscapes challenge how I think about light, space, and mood. I loved the huge canvases and projections on the walls inside the Louis Vuitton Foundation. More than anything there is something about the use of intentional colour as part of storytelling that I want to try and test further in my practice.
Livraria Lello, Porto
The dramatic staircase and detailed interiors reinforced my interest in immersive environments. The space felt alive, showing how architecture itself can become part of a narrative and help you lean into the magic of what lies within. In this case stories waiting to be lived and breathed through books. Yes I bought one Grimms Tales 3D book!
MOCO Museum, London
A mix of contemporary and digital work encourages experimentation with mixed media and more playful visual and immersive approaches. It pushes me to stay open to blending different styles and approaches including light installations and AI-generated work. Basquiat, Banksy and Warhol were all present in this one world.
La Galerie Dior, Paris
The craftsmanship and attention to detail highlighted how texture and form can tell a story in its own right. The movement of fabric and sculptural silhouettes were brought to life and stays with me. This adds fuel to how I think about costume and character design. I had been to the Fashion and Textile Museum in London which provoked different thoughts about the relationship of clothes with society and voice.
Disney Exhibition, London
Seeing the evolution from hand-drawn animation to CGI strengthens my understanding of movement and expression. It reinforced the importance of intention in every frame. Again, the 100 year anniversary exhibition drew on so many forms and materials, and you could move from one area to another, each telling their own story.
Dali Museum, Bruges
Salvador Dalí’s surrealism has always invited me to explore more imaginative and unexpected ideas. It pushes me to move beyond literal interpretations and it’s this maturity that I want to grow in my work. The collaboration between Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney on Destino particularly stood out to me. The way surrealist imagery was translated into animation showed how abstract ideas and fine art can be brought to life through movement, expanding what animation can communicate beyond traditional storytelling.
‘I have Dalínian thought, the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.’
Salvador Dalí
Wicked
This I just loved full stop! It includes strong world-building, lighting, and costume design. It highlights how visual elements create atmosphere and emotional impact.
Yes, I have also seen the theatre production!
Jurassic Park
The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films have shaped how I think about cinematic tension, creature behaviour and large scale world building. Across the series, I am drawn to the way practical effects, animatronics and CGI work together to create dinosaurs that feel present and believable. The original film set the foundation with its careful use of sound, scale and atmosphere, while the later films expand the world through more complex digital environments and action driven storytelling. Jurassic World Dominion in particular shows how digital creatures can be placed within everyday locations in a way that feels immediate and so real. Together, the series continues to help me think about the impact of visual effects.
Avatar
Avatar: The Way of Water develops my understanding of immersive world building even further. Its underwater performance capture and detailed ecosystems show how technology can strengthen emotional connection rather than distract from it. I am inspired by the film’s use of light, colour and movement to create a world that feels so alive. It encourages me to think more boldly about how visual effects can support character, culture and story.