Dr. Sarah Jane Pell

Award-winning artist Dr. Sarah Jane Pell is an experienced Occupational Diver, aquatic performer and versitile art and science collaborator. She is leading first generation artist-astronaut crews of the commercial spaceflight era. Her practice aptly begins underwater by connecting with deep ecologies to embody, and critique, the culture of exploration. Artifacts include sculptural, technical, poetic events and immersive media connecting bodies of water to bodies of knowledge and movement. She was awarded Best PhD Art & Science by Leonardo AS, MIT 2007 and TED Fellow 2010 for pioneering Aquabatics. Dr. Pell is an experienced Simulation Astronaut for undersea trials, an Artist-Astronaut Candidate for a suborbital aeronomy mission, and an imagineer for a MoonVillage. She continues to perform expressively and tests novel tools to make art in the field. Her work promotes physical conditioning, creative visualisation and new communication.

In 2016, Dr. Pell was awarded Australia Council Fellow and Gifted Citizen (Highly Commended). Her work is widely exhibited, performed and published. The first artist to graduate from the International Space University and Singularity University, Dr. Pell served as Co-Chair of the European Space Agency (ESA) Topical Team Arts & Science (2011-2014). Bending Horizons 2015-2017 documents her expression during extreme art adventures at altitude testing immersive media. Performing Astronautics 2016-2018 creates new territories for experimental and emerging arts into human extra-terrestrial expression and communication. In 2018, she joined Monash University as an Adjunct Associate Professor across the Faculty of Engineering; Office of the Engineering Dean; Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture; Artist-in-Residence at the Monash Immersive Visualisation Platform. In 2020, she is Co-PI of an Australia Research Council Discovery Project on Aquatic Play, Vice-Chair International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Technical Committee Cultural Utilisation of Space and Aquanaut on a 10-day subsea mission. Pell aims to contribute new knowledge on human behaviours, biosensory media and communication design for extreme performance, and responsible ecological adaptation.