The Witch in the Lab Coat is a PhD research-creation and scientific research project (in progress) that explores the intersection of feminist witchcraft and tissue engineering through the development of a body- and performance-based laboratory practice.

This is a work in progress until mid-2023, currently conducted at SymbioticA International Centre of Excellence in Biological Art at the University of Western Australia, through a co-enrolment between the UWA School of the Design and the School of Human Sciences. Additional laboratory facilities include at the University of Montreal and University of Ottawa.

WhiteFeather is fortunate to be supported in her research by UWA supervisors Ionat Zurr, Stuart Hodgetts, and Tarsh Bates. WhiteFeather is also currently working with external supervisor, François-Joseph Lapointe. Some  related experiments were conducted at Pelling Lab with the support of Andrew Pelling.

The Witch in the Lab Coat includes the sub-project, Mooncalf, an original research by WhiteFeather, which is a scientific and cultural exploration of the development of menstrual serum for use in tissue culture, as well as multipotent stem cell isolation from menstrual blood. This research was featured by Merck/ Sigma-Aldrich for International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2021, as part of their #nextgreatimpossible series.

For more information on each aspect of the project, please view the image descriptions.

Read more about the project on We Make Money Not Art, here. This research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through a Doctoral Fellowship, as well as the Australian Government and the University of Western Australia.