This year, we opened our studio space to 14 local artists and makers:
Amber Gibbins, Violeta Marchenkova, Rikki Tarascas, Emma Lindsay, Joel O’Donoghue, Lady Helena Vortex, Chiron Stamp, Shani Kantor, Anna Weatherston, Seren Oroszvary, Jane Glenzinska, Kelly Vassie, Andrés Saenz de Sicilia and Natalie Scott.
It was such a delight to meet each and every one of them that we wanted you to meet some of them too.
It was such a delight to meet each and every one of them that we wanted to do a little post so that you can meet some of them too. So without further ado, let’s dig right in:
Amber Gibbins (she/they)
I am a 22-year-old, queer POC and mixed-media artist who specialises in blending new-age design and technology, with more traditional art methods. I enjoy using multiple mediums to create my work, such as screenprint, monoprint, digital art, clay, photography, projection, and more.
I am currently in the process of launching my own Harajuku streetwear style fashion brand: ADDLED.AD0LESCENT.
I used the space primarily for artist research. I applied for creative opportunities and planned some of my next steps after finishing my 6-month internship with Blast Theory. I doodled some concept work for my fashion brand too.
Amber is currently exhibiting her work at the Queer Art-rave Riposte, London.
Follow Amber’s practice and find out more about them here:
Anna Weatherston (she/her)
My work is multidisciplinary & often site-specific; I imagine work about things I care about and try to get that work made by exploring whichever medium best serves to communicate the idea & engage others. Currently writing for performance/film/installation while taking steps to prioritise my creative practice including applying for DYCP while at Blast Theory.
The space allowed me to FOCUS. I very much feel my practice has re-emerged from having this time, priceless.
Follow Anna’s practice and find out more about her here:
Lady Helena Vortex (they/them)
LHVX is a street-walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm, an anxious depressive who works ‘hard for the money’ in sex, desire, ageing, and neuro-diversity.
I used the space to make a new ACE funded project “instant Vortex Plus + – Air frying the gap ” creating experimental lens work exploring the L’appel du vide, in a dystopian climate changing post-pandemic world.
I can currently be found under the handles ace_heartbreaker and VORTESSA on the gram.
Joel O’Donoghue (he/him)
Joel O’Donogue is a dancer artist/choreographer (also carpenter in training!). Over the last 10 years, he has worked as a performer for companies/individuals such as Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal, Luca Silvistrini’s Protein, Hagit Yakira Dance, and Goldfrapp. As a choreographer, he is interested in adapting his work to less conventional performance environments and creating humorous and oddly relatable pieces.
I used Blast Theory to recreate/adapt an existing work, BRAIN, into an interactive site-specific work, which was later performed in Glasgow over the summer. During the project I worked closely with knitting groups based in South East Glasgow, creating a giant patchwork quilt, that was used as a backdrop for the performance.
Follow Joel’s practice and find out more about him here:
Seren Oroszvary (she/her)
Seren is an actress and performance maker from Melbourne currently based in London. Her practice lies in a methodological approach for developing multimodal pieces, which stem from her recent site-specific project A Body To Dwell. Seren is interested in the combination of architectural phenomenology, the function and experience of the human body and their relation to the natural environment, and how this can be perceived and experienced through contemporary performance. Her work seeks to extend perceptions of our everyday matter and spaces, that can rearrange our relationships to ourselves, the spaces we inhabit, those which inhabit us, and our ecology, potentially opening us to consider healing through performance. Last year Seren graduated from the Masters in Contemporary Physical Performance Making at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, she has collaborated on and performed in multiple film, theatre and performance productions in Australia, Denmark, Estonia and the UK.
The Blast Theory space has been a relieving and mind-opening window for the last three months. Being able to dedicate a window each week to break out of the chaos of London, and have a private space and time and fresh air to devote to my own artistic research, has not only helped my productivity, but I have also come to know how important it is to continue in this way of working with my practice and am motivated to seek more residencies like this. The Blast Theory team have been so kind and welcoming, with a perfect balance between being very insightful and also really chill, without having the pressure to present anything but having space to explore. A fantastic, cutting edge and human team.
Follow Seren’s practice and find out more about her here:
Stay up-to-date with our announcements
Sign up to our monthly newsletter and get the latest news straight to your inbox.
By signing up to our mailing list you’ll receive monthly emails about our upcoming projects, news, opportunities, competitions and more. Here’s how we use your data and how you can opt-out.
