RAW Labs X Art Residency
Bow Arts Trust is delighted to present a new residency program at Royal Albert Wharf.
Over six months, selected artists will undertake two to three-week residencies in an immersive environment to expand their practice, explore new concepts, exchange diverse perspectives, and experiment with innovative approaches.
The RAW Labs X Art Residency places a strong emphasis on creative growth and interdisciplinary dialogue, creating a unique space where art and community intersect. This initiative aims to foster interaction and encourage active participation in the cultural fabric of Royal Albert Wharf, enhancing both the artistic and communal experience.
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Introducing the Artists in Residence
Vincenzo Muratore: 18 Nov – 8 Dec 2024
Inaugural Art residency: Choice and Vibration led by artist Vincenzo Muratore
The Choice and Vibration project explores the theme of choice as a profound and often subconscious process, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in an installation that symbolizes the paths and decisions that shape our lives. The final work will be an immersive installation crafted entirely from organic materials—primarily paper, wood—that creates a welcoming, layered environment. The structure will be rigid yet extremely lightweight, composed of interconnected forms that guide visitors through symbolic pathways. Each movement choice within the installation represents a possible direction or decision, evoking a personal and engaging experience.
The concept behind this installation stems from my research into the impact of choices, both conscious and unconscious, on identity and individual growth. Each decision we make can represent a fork in the road, an opening, or a closure, and I want to embody these possibilities through an environment that encourages the visitor to make “choices” as they explore the work. The installation is also inspired by the ephemeral and changeable nature of the materials: paper and wood represent the fragility and beauty of human existence, while the lighting creates an atmosphere of discovery and introspection.
Jaewook Lim: 9 – 21 Dec 2024
Jaewook Lim – born in 1995 is a multidisciplinary artist based in London and Korea. Lim pursued further studies at Hongik University in Korea, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture and he recently graduated from the Royal College of Art in London with a Master of Arts in Sculpture. Lim’s work explores ambiguous boundary between privacy and publicity based on sexuality and symbolism through sculpture, painting, and video installations.
During the residency, Jae will create a multidisciplinary body of work exploring queer identity, sexual inequality, and masculinity, drawing from personal experiences. The project will include a sculptural installation made from latex and makeup foundation, symbolizing intimacy, vulnerability, and transformation. The residency will culminate in a public exhibition featuring the installation, paintings, and a video piece, offering an immersive exploration of these themes. Additionally, he plans to host an artist talk or interview to foster deeper dialogue about the stories and ideas behind his work.
Malina Busch: 6 -19 Jan 2024
Malina Busch – Malina Busch – a London-based artist who creates abstract, color-driven works that blend painting, sculpture, and knotting. Her art ranges from small-scale pieces to large installations, combining fine art techniques with everyday materials, she investigates the intersection of feeling and perception. Malina holds degrees from the Slade School of Fine Art (MFA), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA), and the College of William and Mary (BA). Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in the US, UK, and Turkey.
Hybrid is an immersive installation responding to the interplay between the natural and built environment around Royal Albert Wharf. Merging painted and sculpted elements, Hybrid transforms waste materials from local businesses and the community to create an abstract assemblage of colour-driven forms. In structures ranging from hand-held to human-sized, the installation traverses the floors and walls at RAW Labs to re-imagine how we encounter spaces around us. Through colour and texture, Hybrid contrasts ephemeral elements from the natural environment with transient qualities found within cast-off materials. The residency culminates in an exhibition inviting new perspectives on our relationship with the wider world and the materials we surround ourselves with. Hybrid stems from Malina’s roots in rural farming communities in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Growing up nature felt alive and unpredictable, and objects were often repurposed out of necessity. Selecting materials that speak to her body, Malina re-shapes them to gain a deeper knowledge of a precise moment and space.
Elina Yumasheva: 20 Jan – 2 Feb 2024
Elina Yumasheva – is an artist with a background in environmental science and sustainability, whose work highlights ecological awareness and the interplay of living and non-living forms. She uses oils, natural pigments, and non-toxic materials, drawing inspiration from mythology, science, and symbolism to explore impermanence. As head of the Royal College of Art’s Sustainability Society (SustainLab RCA) for 2023/24—awarded Society of the Year 2024—Elina has championed eco-conscious creativity. She holds an MSc in Environmental Science from the University of Edinburgh and will complete her MA in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art in 2024.
Elina seeks to create a lasting emotional impact through visual communication as She believes visual language can resonate deeply with individuals. The project uses art to connect with individuals while serving as a catalyst for change, drawing from insights into environmental campaigning. Her aim is to bridge behavioural science and emotional impact, employing emotional triggers like colour, sound, and immersive visuals to inspire actionable responses. The immersive nature of the installation will encourage participants to feel present and engaged with the artwork. By following Peter Lanyon’s approach to experiencing landscapes – favouring an ecocentric perspective over an anthropocentric, distanced view – Elina hopes to foster a deeper connection to the natural world. The non-representational approach to experiencing the natural world will evoke strong emotional responses, inviting viewers to reflect on the subject through the lens of their personal feelings.
Beatriz Santos & Ula Moroz: 3 – 16 Feb 2024
Beatriz Santos – born 1996 in Lisbon, is a multimedia artist based in London. Her practice involves making paintings based on her own poetry, often depicting everyday subject matter infused with lyricism. Having completed an English BA at Clare College, Cambridge, Beatriz went on to study Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art. This year she received a Painting MA (Distinction) at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL. She is the winner of the 2023 Richard Ford Award and the 2024 Dolbey Travel Award. In 2025, Beatriz is showing work at the London Art Fair with ArtULTRA, at ReA! Art Fair in Milan and is represented by OOHART in China.
Beatriz’ and Ula’s project explores themes of migration, travel—both physical and imaginary—and the evolving identity of Royal Albert Wharf, historically part of the London Docks and now a growing residential area. As first-generation migrants in London, the artists aim to reflect on complex emotions surrounding home and travel through a collaborative experimental film. The video will juxtapose painted sculptures with the landscape of Royal Albert Wharf, symbolizing how memories of leisure and belonging are shaped by present realities of migration, work, and distance. Ula will film in both studio and outdoor settings, while Beatriz’s interactive paper-mâché props—playful objects like airplanes, beach balls, and parasols—will interact with the environment. These whimsical elements, alongside single human figures, will question notions of belonging and explore the potential for play and leisure within urban spaces. Additionally, the installation will include a workshop where visitors can create scenes using Beatriz’s sculptures, allowing them to reflect on their own memories of travel, holidays, and belonging.
Ula Moroz – is a filmmaker and cinematographer, whose work centres on folklore and its relationship to the environment. Inspired by films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, her work often juxtaposes the ephemeral beauty of the environment with a feeling of modern anxiety and confusion. Her recent film Murmurare has been inspired by Segovia’s mountainous landscape, the concept of duende as well as Castilla y Leon’s carnival costumes. In her work, she explores the connection between folklore and the encroaching environmental breakdown.
Annamaria Antonazzo: 17 Feb – 2 Mar 2024
Annamaria Antonazzo – born in Italy in 1986, studied Painting and Contemporary Arts at the Fine Arts Academy of Lecce. She later completed a graphic design thesis titled Sound and Sign: Graphic Consideration through the Analysis of the Creative Processes, focusing on translating sound into images. Now based in London, Annamaria is an artist and educator whose practice spans painting, printmaking, and drawing. Her work draws inspiration from literature, cinema, and daily life, often exploring themes of memory, transformation, and conceptual development.
Transit Grp: 3 – 16 Mar 2024
Transit Grp – organised by Denisa Zajacova, Karolina Žalėnaitė, Jonas Balsevičius, Matilda Clarke and Luīza: is a collective of early-career artists who aim to to create a peer-to-peer network and build an environment for art-marking with no limitations on medium or format. Inspired by encounters within transitional urban spaces they designed a workshop, during which the participants would be asked to produce a piece of work on their journey to an agreed location at any given time. Once at the destination they are encouraged to have a open conversation which is meant to help them contextualise their experience.
They will organise a workshop where participants will be asked to create something on their way to Royal Albert Wharf and share their experience with Transit Grp at the studio in a form of a debate. This workshop will kick start the members to experiment with collaboration on a site-specific piece for the Royal Albert Wharf area that will be exhibited as a fianl outcome of their residency.
John Lord: 17-30 Mar 2024
John Lord – originally trained in Metalworking completing an apprenticeship and gaining City and Guilds qualifications, initially working in metal sculpture. Subsequently working with reclaimed materials that have been utilized into his current practice. Previously living and working at Art residencies in Germany (Berlin and Leipzig). Currently based at Royal Albert Wharf Studios with Bow Arts.
During residency John will use the space as a drop in area for the community of Royal Albert Wharf. Within the space he will be working on a large scale drawing entitled ” Community of RAW “. This process would be a collaborative exchange between himself and the Community involving representing in portraits the residents. Salvaged and reclaimed items from the surrounding area could potentially be used as additional surfaces to be drawn on, and incorporated in to the overall display of work. Drawing instruction in charcoal would be offered to anyone wishing to participate in the project, engaging as many people as possible to contribute in a panoramic overview of the community and area.
Hernan Guardamagna: 31 Mar -13 Apr 2024
Hernan Guardamagna – is a London-based footwear designer known for his genderless, modern designs characterized by bold silhouettes, geometric shapes, and elements of sportswear and futurism. After completing his MA at the Royal College of Art, he launched his own brand and collaborated with fashion designers for London Fashion Week. Hernan incorporates his fashion background into his footwear, using techniques like pleats and gatherings typically found in garment design. He values handcrafting, which offers more flexibility and individuality compared to industrial methods. His work, often made with minimal machinery, focuses on sustainability by sourcing materials from deadstock and discarded fashion waste.
During the RAW Labs residency, Hernan will aim to explore new creative possibilities, share his shoemaking craft, and engage with the local community. Using the studio space as a hub for collaboration and creativity, the residency will serve as an opportunity to develop his practice while fostering connections with other artists, designers, and students. The organized activities will focus on footwear, sustainability, and the intersection of fashion and art, encouraging conversations around circular design. The residency will emphasize experimentation and exploration, offering Hernan a chance to expand his research into sustainability and creative methodologies. By opening the doors of his studio, Hernan aims to create an inclusive environment that invites dialogue and inspires appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship behind their work. The residency will be shaped organically, ensuring it evolves in response to the interests and needs of participants and the wider community.
Ellen Sampson: 7 – 21 Apr 2024
Ellen Sampson – an artist and material culture researcher whose work draws upon phenomenology and psychoanalytic theory to explore the relationships between bodies, and objects, both in museums and archives, and in everyday life. Her work uses film, photography, and writing to explore agency of objects, our entanglements with them and the power of bodily trace. Ellen is a Research Fellow at Northumbria School of Design. She was previously Curatorial Fellow at Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Professorial Fellow at UCA. Her book Worn: Footwear Attachment and the Affects of Wear was published by Bloomsbury in 2020.
This project explores the metaphor and material culture of the stain. Despite their material prevalence there is little research into the meanings of stains and staining and what exists is scattered across diverse fields. At a time when understanding our relationships to consumption and newness is critical, it asks how we might use the stain as a lens through which to understand our complex relationships to the pollution, imperfection, damage and shame. How engaging with the multiple forms staining manifest in our relationships to the world (from damaged garments and polluted landscapes to the traces of labour and violence) can counteract the willful blindness which often underscores these relationships. During the residency I will work through four thematic groupings; evidence and indexicality, permanence and indelibility, accident and intention and shame and guilt, using photography, film and printmaking, textual research, to map the overlaps and lacunae between these categories.
Jamie Zubairi: 14 – 27 Apr 2024
Jamie Zubairi – a British-born, Anglo-Malay actor, artist and creative facilitator, living in Thamesmead, southeast London. Raised in Malaysia, he returned to England in 1988 to further his education, taking Foundation Art at DeMonfort Uni before studying acting at LAMDA, and began his acting career in 1997. As theatre-maker his works have always included an element of Live Art. He runs Thamesmead Life Drawing and adult drawing courses running parallel with his acting career. Currently he is performing in Studio Ghibli/RSC’s “My Neighbour Totoro” in the West End.
“The Notebook Of Kazumi Fujimoto” is a series of portraits developed from 10 second A6 sketches made during the 28 performances of “In The Weeds” in 2022 in Edinburgh, in which I played the fictitious Dr Kazumi Fujimoto. 28 notebooks of sketches form the basis of the project, exploring the use of memory, performance, dynamic mark-making, trying to uncover (or perhaps discover) a greater vulnerability in mark-making. The project asks questions of myself in this exploration: what does the state of mind play in creation? What if you were another character, is it still your creation? Are you still you in performance?
Indianna Solnick: 28 Apr – 11 May 2024
Indianna Solnick – is a visual artist specializing in painting and environmental storytelling. She completed her MFA in Painting at the Slade in 2023 and a BA in Painting from Wimbledon College of Art in 2017. She has received notable accolades, including the Haworth Scholarship for Painting (2021-2023) and the Retreat Prize (2017), and was shortlisted for the Adrian Carruthers Award in 2023. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions such as Catch at No Show Space (2023), Pushing the Envelope at The National Museum of Computing (2024), and Total Straw at Parkhouse Street Studios (2023), among others. Solnick’s practice explores the narratives embedded in land and lived environments, using materials, forms, and diagrams to investigate infrastructure and citizen interaction. Recent projects have included large billboard installations in public spaces, focusing on themes of participation, rebellion, and the semiotics of street signage.
Indianna will be creating an immersive painting environment that riffs on the language of public space and our constructed world. Through the intuitive construction of the space, she will be hosting a series of workshops that will allow participants to contribute to the artwork. The sculptures will engage with a language of signage and billboards, and explore the cartoon motifs recurrent within the artist’s own practice. Within constructed ‘hubs’ for interaction and creation and play, routes for engagement with the environment will encourage children and adults to question the design of their community spaces and think about what they would like to change in their environment. Activities will include world-building collage and drawing workshops aimed at children and adults. Envisioning changes in our environments and fostering a sense of shared ownership, collective responsibility for, but most importantly power to change our surroundings and public spaces.
About the Curatorial Team
Art Curator: Yu Ying – (Yuying) Chan is a curator and researcher with a background in visual art. She delves into fictive curation to explore different ways of curation and storytelling.
Growing up in different countries, Yuying experienced life like a radicant in many cultures. She developed a strong interest in researching cultural representation and cultural belongings in an era of unprecedented mobility and connectivity, traditional notions of fixed identities and cultural boundaries are continually challenged. Her curatorial pursuits orbit around cultural representation, nomadism, otherness, and temporality through a metaphysical and fictional lens. Fiction is her curatorial methodology. The beauty of art is cored to the imagination and artists’ ability to dream and contemplate the future. Fiction is a tool of narration and storytelling that allows people to study the future through the prism of the past and present to shape the world we aspire to inhabit. It is also a tool to rebel against reality and help to envision and form the path to the desired future.
Lead Artist: Vincenzo Muratore – Born in Sicily in 1985, Vincenzo Muratore is a sculptor, designer, and performer based in London.
With a background in social sciences for international cooperation, he has been actively involved since 2010 with the Trinità della Pace Community in Sicily on rural regeneration and landscape art projects. Muratore has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions and has created various public artworks. In London, he has been part of several artist communities, from Trinity Buoy Wharf to RAW Labs (Bow Arts), and has also engaged in various open studios and public engagement activities. He collaborates with various public institutions and galleries and is graduated at the Royal College of Art for the MA in sculpture 2024.
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More about Royal Albert Wharf
Royal Albert Wharf
Royal Albert Wharf hosts an energetic, inspirational community with over 40 modern and spacious studios within a creative hub, hosting events for the local community.
