Cushla Donaldson is a researcher and artist with a background in sociology, critical theory, contemporary art and film. She was awarded her Bachelor of Fine Art with philosophy and critical theory from the University of Auckland, received the Anne Reid Memorial Scholarship to complete her Master's degree at the Goldsmiths College, University of London and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Sociology from The University of Auckland.

After presenting the participatory work 501s (2018–ongoing) with The Physics Room at the Melbourne Art Fair in 2018, Donaldson collaboratively developed a parallel collection of commissioned essays and artworks, Through That Which Separates Us, published in 2021.

Currently working as a Promovendus at the Van Vollenhoven Institute, Donaldson is supervised by Prof. Maartje van der Woude and Dr. Amalia Campos Delgado. Her research is part of the NWO funded project ‘Emotional Labour in the Borderlands: A Deeper Understanding of Ethno-Racial Profiling through Academic and Artistic Research’.