At the beginning of the second semester, Cosmo Segurson was invited to teach for six weeks at Marlborough as the 2026 Artist-in-Residence. As an animator, Segurson has been working with the 7th and 8th grade Digital Art classes, along with the Film 4 class, on an abstract self-portrait project. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Sergurson was drawn to the visual arts from a very young age.
“I was about six,” Segurson said. “We had just gone to Knott’s Berry Farm and I came back that day and drew one of the rides out in complete detail. I was obsessed with this crazy ride and I had recreated the whole thing on paper. It took me three days and I remember finishing that and feeling like I had really accomplished something and that it meant something. It felt like a real breakthrough.”
In elementary school, Segurson enjoyed painting, and when he got to high school, he started designing sets and directing plays.
“That’s where I first had the idea of how to put together pictures,” Segurson said. “When you’re looking at a stage, you’re seeing the whole picture.”
While attending the California Institute of Arts, Segurson discovered animation. This quickly became his passion because it combined both illustration and stagecraft. German Expressionism influenced his artistic work, which references silent films from the 1920s like “Metropolis” and “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” Sergurson credits Edward Gorey and Dr. Seuss as major influences on his illustration.
Sergurson was raised in a musical family with a jazz musician for a father and a singer for a mother. Because of this upbringing, he incorporates music into his projects, composing and playing himself. Segurson plays the organ and first used his own music in his animated shorts as a way of avoiding the process and cost of licensing other people’s music. He now believes that music is a key component of the filmmaking process.
In addition to teaching Marlborough students, Segurson is currently working on a personal project, a type of self-portrait. His short film follows an insect who lives on the side of the road and comes in contact with many different lifestyles. These experiences ultimately lead the insect to a journey of self-discovery.
Segurson hopes to teach Marlborough students that animation and filmmaking can be more abstract than literal. When thinking of the purpose of his own art, he hopes it raises questions and ultimately opens up a dialogue with the audience.
“Even though I may not be in the room with them, I’m hoping that [animation] raises questions and themes about self, identity and community,” Segurson said.
