Residencies for Hackney-based Artists

Thank you to everyone who attended ou first public event, the Hackney Residency Open Studios on Saturday 3rd September. Next Join us for the opening of 'Work in Process' the Hackney Residency Exhibition.

Between June and October 2022 Kupfer hosted 4 underrepresented Hackney-based artists for a 3-month long residency where they developed both in practice and international recognition.

Funded by the Hackney Central Impact and Ideas Fund, our residency programme provides access to an individual studio space, use of our workshop facilities, a monthly stipend and materials budget, technical support, monthly workshopping and mentorship activities as well as networking opportunities.
Abi Ola (b. 1996, London) is an artist living and working in London.

Her art practice centres around family portraiture and patterns with often faceless figures that invite the viewer to place themselves or their loved ones within her portraits. By experimenting with pattern making, using African fabrics, alongside British floral designs she explores her West African heritage and British nationality. Abi graduated with an MFA from the Slade School of Arts in 2021, and has a BFA from Goldsmiths, University of London(2019). She recently received the New Contemporaries Award 2022 and had a solo show with Flatland Projects, in 2022, and Rawlinson and Hunter group exhibition of Ingram Prize alumni, 2022.

During the residency she researched African and British textiles to inform her painting compositions. In addition to this, she is learnt from mentors and the other resident artists through crits and engaging in professional practice mentorship.

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Damilola Lemomu (b. 1995, London) is a London based visual artist and filmmaker.

Damilola works across film, sound, and archive, addressing intersecting ideas between identity, migration and place. Following an MA in Screen Documentary at Goldsmiths, her graduate film received a Learning on Screen Award and went on to screen at Flatpack Film Festival in Birmingham.

Screenings and exhibitions of her work [as director; producer; researcher] include: BFI Film Academy SCENE 2020; Manchester Museum; Hackney Bridge; Dazed Digital Magazine; Aesthetica Film Festival. Her debut solo exhibition “Pram Town Revisited” opens at the Gibberd Gallery in Harlow on 5 Nov.

As part of her residency with Kupfer, Damilola conducted an oral history project on Hackney local communities experiences of gentrification and ‘sense of home’.

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Dominic Myatt (b. 1993, Leicester) is an artist living and working in London.

Rooted in drawing, their practice often explores the messy spaces between sexual fantasy and reality and the power dynamics that revolve around these. They graduated from Goldsmiths in 2014 and The Royal Drawing School in 2019.

Their work is held in the Tate collection, The Royal Collection and the Soho House art collection. Clients and commissions include Channel 4, Selfridges, Vivienne Westwood, Fred Perry and Ambassador Theatre Group.

Dominic is used the residency opportunity to focus on large scale works, especially paintings which he has recently been revisiting and also to further his exploration into sculpture.

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Mengxi Zhang (b. 1989, China) is an artist living and working in London.

She makes paintings exploring the subject of the body and the medium of painting itself, with experimentation and play at the centre of her practice. Mengxi moved to the UK from China as a teenager. She graduated in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins in 2012 and finished the Turps Studio Programme in 2021. Recently her work has been shown at Terrace Gallery in London, Tabula Rasa Gallery in ArtShenzhen, and the exhibition Dreamlands at OHSH Projects in London.

During the residency Mengxi expanded her practice into a more experimental realm by using different materials such as pigments, latex and resin. She also experimented with sculptural forms, which she had never done before.

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