Bennett is a PhD candidate at the University of Reading’s Department of Architecture, where the key research question is ‘Autistic Umwelten: Exploring Intersectional Sensory Experiences and Locomotion in Walkable Urban Infrastructure’. This research stems from a key enquiry into ‘otherness’. Supported by SeNSS and funded through the ESRC, the work bridges scholarly inquiry with creative expression, fostering new, abstract forms of communication. Supported by Assistant Professor Carolina Vasilikou (Cambridge), Professor Kathy Pain (Henley Business School) and Dr Stephen Gage (University of Reading).
The journey into place-based research began during her Master’s in Site and Archive Intervention at the University of Central Lancashire, where she studied under the guidance of Professor Lubaina Himid (Making Histories Visible) and Professor Charles Quick (In Certain Places). This experience expanded her practice to embrace digital technologies, site-specific engagement, and philosophical discourses, laying the foundation for her current interdisciplinary approach.
Alongside her research, she works as a Printmaking Studio Technician at the University of Central Lancashire, with technical expertise spanning multiple print media, including screen printing, relief, and stone lithography. She thrives on supporting a dynamic community of students, researchers, and creative practitioners, delivering workshops and cultivating a collaborative studio environment.
Through practice, she explores the intersection of art, place, and autistic female experience, aiming to reimagine urban spaces and foster deeper connections between people and environments.
Exhibitions, Conferences, and Publications
2025
- Conference Presentation. Reframing Urban Accessibility: A Critical Exploration of Autistic Women’s Sensory Navigation in the Walkable Built Environment. School of the Built Environment, Post Graduate Research Conference. University of Reading.
- Conference Paper. The Neurodivergent Body In Motion: Mapping The Autistic Sensory Experience Of The Walkable Urban Space. Available on Research Gate.
- Research Grant. Funded through the Creativity, Communities and Culture (ICCC) at the University of Central Lancashire
- Speaker. ‘Researching Public Space: Linking Literature to Methods’. Delivered to 3rd Year Architecture Students at the University of Central Lancashire
- Exhibition: Making Sandcastles, PR1 Gallery.
2024
- Conference Speaker: Institute of Creativity, Communities, and Culture Winter Symposium, December.
- Conference Speaker: 5th International Congress of City Ambiences Exploring the City Through Neurodivergent Sensory Experiences, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal – Co-authored with Assistant Professor Carolina Vasilikou, October.
2023
- Publication: Auto-photography and Collaborative Drawing: How Can Autistic Researchers Foster Inclusion Through Method Selection and Development to Investigate the Design of the Built Environment? Sentio Issue 5.
- Training: Introduction to British Sign Language, funded by Unison, hosted by the University of Central Lancashire.
- Award: Research Film Award, Judges’ Choice, University of Reading Doctoral Conference, June.
2022
- Poster Presentation: Postgraduate Research Conference, June, University of Reading, UK.
- Exhibition: Making Sandcastles, May, PR1 Gallery.
- Funding: SeNSS Studentship, April, funded by the ESRC.
- PhD Candidacy: University of Reading, October –Autistic Umwelten: Exploring Intersectional Sensory Experiences and Locomotion in Walkable Urban Infrastructure.
- Commission: Designed three new gift cards for Autistica in April.
- Grant: CPRA Grant for Research Development, March, awarded by the University of Central Lancashire.
- Digital Exhibition: Interrupting Solitude, TBC.
2021
- Digital Residency and Zine: After Illusion, January.
2020
- Exhibition: Do Not Touch The Artwork, November, PR1 Gallery.
- Digital Exhibition: Connections, October, curated by the Hannover Project, Preston.
- Auction: Creative Differences: Exploring Art and Autism, October, for Autistica.
- Digital Publication: The Submitters, June, curated by After Illusion.
- In Conversation: Interrupting Solitude, June, with Wendy Yu, hosted by ‘We Belong Here.’
- Digital Residency and Exhibition: Zero Hour, June, hosted by ‘We Belong Here.’
- Exhibitions: POST (May), COVENT-19 (May), Poetry During Quarantine (April).
- Artist Talk: Blind Spot, March, with Joanna Garrett, University of Central Lancashire.
- Publication: Micro Stories, January, in collaboration with Fabrizio Paterlini.
2019
- Exhibitions: Artistic and Autistic (postponed), Peckham Levels and King’s College, London.
- Exhibitions: Re-Humanising Medicine and Humanising Medicine, part of the Being Human Festival, November–December, Bart’s Pathology Museum, London.
- Exhibitions: Living Photography, December, The Brunswick, Leeds.
- Winter Open Studios, November, Make North, Preston.
- Exhibitions: Perceptions 2019 (September, PR1 Gallery, Preston), Refresh Art Award (June, 5th Base Gallery, London), Hide and Seek (May, 44AD Gallery, Bath).
- Broadcast: D for Diagnosis, BBC Radio 4, July.
- Conference: Discover Conference, June, University of Reading.
- Exhibition: Alpha–Theta, February, The Old Biscuit Factory, London.
- Exhibition: State of Print, January, Dundee Contemporary Arts.
2018
- Exhibition: Bennett and Garrett, December, Test Bed, Preston.
- Exhibition: State of Print, November, Harrington Social Space, Preston.
- Interview: North Magazine, November.
- Exhibitions: Art Zoo (June, The Harris, Preston), Outcome (January, PR1 Gallery, Preston).