The Witch in the Lab Coat is a doctoral research-creation and scientific investigation that explores the intersection of feminist witchcraft and tissue engineering through the development of a body-based, performance-informed laboratory practice. Led by WhiteFeather, the project was conducted at SymbioticA: the International Centre of Excellence in Biological Art within the School of Human Sciences at the University of Western Australia, with additional laboratory research undertaken at the University of Montreal, University of Ottawa, and the DZNE (German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease) at Charité Berlin.

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The project has unfolded through multiple iterations across academic, artistic, and curatorial contexts. In 2023, it was featured in MATTER OF FLUX at Art Laboratory Berlin—an exhibition curated in collaboration with FEMeeting and presented alongside works by Shu Lea Cheang (with Ewen Chardronnet) and Lyndsey Walsh. In 2024, the project was further developed and exhibited in Arcanum Sanguinis: Occult Blood at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, framed within a broader exploration of occult knowledge systems, alchemy, and biotechnological embodiment.

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A core sub-project, Mooncalf, is an original research trajectory initiated by WhiteFeather that investigates the development of menstrual serum for tissue culture, alongside methods for isolating stem cells from menstrual blood. Reclaiming menstrual material as both scientific medium and cultural agent, this work situates menstruation as a site of techno-alchemical potential. WhiteFeather’s early experiments with menstrual serum were spotlighted by Merck/Sigma-Aldrich for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (2021), as part of their #nextgreatimpossible series.

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The project has been profiled in a number of publications, including an in-depth interview on We Make Money Not Art—read more here. Numerous academic texts have also been published on various components of the project, contributing to interdisciplinary discourse in feminist science studies, bioart, and performance-based research.

The Witch in the Lab Coat was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Doctoral Fellowship), the Australian Government, and the University of Western Australia, with additional support from Art Laboratory Berlin.

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The full doctoral thesis, The Witch in the Lab Coat: Doubling, Doubling, Toiling and Troubling the Narratives and Methodologies of Standard Scientific Research Practices, is available online through The University of Western Australia’s research repository here.