Past Residents
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Fall 2019Ron Aloni (b. 1950) is an Israeli sculptor based in downtown Tel Aviv. For the past 20 years he has developed a studio practice that focuses on weaving organic-shaped sculptures using metal mesh, usually used by farmers for fencing, barbed wire, paint and glass. At the end of October 2019, Ron Aloni completed his action packed four-week residency. Aloni spent his entire time collaborating and engaging with several local Umbrian and Tuscan metal and glass artisans, architects, historians and collectors.
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Winter 2018Michael Vasquez (b. 1983) is an American artist, whose vivid paintings depict the histories and social attributes of US street gangs. Drawing on his personal experience as an only child of a single mother and growing up without a father figure in Miami, his practice explores the allure of a neighbourhood street gang and his personal experiences.
Michael Vasquez spent a month at VAR painting landscapes and portraits inspired by the stunning surroundings of the studio in Umbria, as well as exploring new subjects matters and the rich art history of Italy.
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Fall 2017Rana Begum (b. 1977) is a London-based artist whose work draws inspiration from repetitive geometric patterns found within Islamic art and urban architecture. Through her refined combination of Minimalist abstraction and optical art, Begum blurs the boundaries between sculpture, painting and architecture.
Rana Begum spent a month at VAR making sculpture and exploring new materials with local ceramic tile artisans Maestri del Cotto. She also travelled to Pietra Santa to visit a studio that makes marble sculpture before visiting Florence and the Venice Biennale.
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Fall 2022
Yaya Yajie Liang (b. 1995, Henan, China) is a London-based artist, whose work explores the metamorphosis of the body and the potential of becoming animal in the Anthropocene Age. Drawing references from beasts in Chinese legends to violent narratives from contemporary life, Yaya’s practice invites us to reconsider the prescribed definition of ‘humanity’, in pursuit of a fluid queer identity only possible through hybridisation.
During her time at the Residency, Yaya drew inspiration from her explorations of Rome, Florence and Siena, and particularly the meditation room of San Marco Convent in Florence, Fra Angelico.
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Spring 2023
Jessie Makinson, the London born and based artist, combines her skills in drawing and painting to build ecofeminist worlds in which human and non-human live in a contestant state of renegotiation. Makinson’s worlds are filled with objects abandoning their tasks and characters at once mysterious and familiar caught at a moment of tantrum. Her visual methodology is vast and ranges from contemporary science fiction to 17th and 18th-century erotica, pre-agricultural mythology, early Renaissance altarpieces, British folklore, and Flemish kitchen scenes. Plucking themes and narratives from British pop culture and mixing them, intentionally, with recognizable American motifs, she creates bold new contexts for both.
Vivid colors describe tense, erotic scenes in which desirous characters are dangerous active participants, not passive permission givers. Makinson’s characters practice rituals, they embrace, plot, and conspire. They hold sexual power and disrupt expectations, inhabiting a universe that surprises, delights, and tests its audience.
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Summer 2024
Recently graduated from Royal College of Art with a Masters degree in Painting, Min Woo Nam is a Korean artist living and working in London. After graduating from his bachelors, Min was conscripted into the Korean army where he served for two years. While stationed in South Sudan as part of the UN peacekeeper force, Min was inspired by the unfamiliar surroundings to self-reflect and take on an introspective journey of the meaning of existence and the notion of oneself.
Highlights of recent exhibitions include ‘Within and Beyond’, Rosenfeld Gallery, London (2023); ‘Nouvelle Vague’ lbf contemporary, London(2023); ‘Timescapes’, Shtager&Shch, London (2023); ‘Passages’, D Contemporary, London (2023); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London (2022).
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Fall 2023
VJoseph Aina (b. 1996) is a Nigerian-British Artist. Aina is based in London, and also works in Nigeria and Berlin. Aina received a degree in Law and Psychology from the University of Kent (2018), following which he spent time developing his practice before pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, London. Aina went on to complete his MA in Painting at the RCA (2022), on a full scholarship. Since graduating, Aina has completed residencies at Prior Art Space in Berlin and Live Art in Nigeria and is currently working towards exhibitions in Nigeria, Ghana and London.
“Whilst on this residency I set myself the task to create works using only Oil paint. This not only made them easier to transport, but allowed me to work on approaches I was researching of some Renaissance painters. Being in Italy gave me access to landscapes that looked very similar to many of my favorite paintings.”
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Summer 2017
VAR’s second resident artist was Japanese sculptor Keita Miyazaki (b. 1983). Miyazaki’s sculptures feature materials whose association suggests strident discord and unfamiliar visual language. Discarded car engine components are welded together and then combined with coloured origami-like folded paper and sewn felt, fashioning sculptures of contradiction and aesthetic intrigue. An element of sound inspired by the jingles found in Japanese supermarkets and metro stations is often incorporated through small speakers echoing the cacophonic persistence of city life and the banalisation of daily existence.
Miyazaki spent a month at the VAR studio making new sculpture and collaborating with the local Lispi & Co forge.
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Fall 2022
Xu Yang (b.1996, Shandong) is a London-based Chinese multi-disciplinary artist creating artwork with political undercurrents. Referencing Western art history and motifs from queer culture, her paintings explore the complexity of femininity, particularly in the digital age.
Challenging and being in contra to her Asian upbringing, Xu uses her queer identity to investigate notions of femininity and social constructs, putting into question our ability to determine whether what we see online is real.
The developments in Xu Yang’s practice during the residency were inspired by explorations of Santa Maria della Scala and Villa Fidelia in Siena, as well as the tomb decorations and paintings of fake marble surfaces on the interior walls of the Cattedrale dei Santi Gervasio e Portasio in Cittá della Pieve.
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Spring 2017Brooklyn-based Angel Otero (b. 1981) is a visual artist best known for his process-based paintings. While much of his works have been influenced by memories based in photographs and other family memorabilia combined with the gestures of 20th century painting, his latest works highlight the artist’s unique process as a form of narrative in itself.
Angel Otero was the very first VAR artist in residence. Otero was keen to get away from his busy Brooklyn studio and to find new ideas and energy within the calm and idyllic environment of VAR’s studio. He wanted to focus on creating sketches for sculptural paintings for his first solo institutional show in NY at the Bronx Museum. A major objective of the VAR programme was to facilitate collaborations between resident artists and long-established Umbrian and Tuscan artisans. Angel embraced this opportunity from the first week, working on creative collaborations with two local workshops – the Lispi & Co forge and Maestri del Cotto (terracotta tile factory), where he experimented with making metal and terracotta sculptures.
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Fall 2022
Victoria Cantons (b. 1969, London) is a British multi-disciplinary artist whose practice is concerned with an exploration of limitations, stigma and freedom. Interweaving the autobiographical and art historical, her paintings boldly contemplate themes of identity, gender and the notion of what a woman is or can be.
During the stay at Cittá della Pieve, Victoria immersed herself in the Italian natural landscape, reading the poetry of the Latin poet Catullus and the German poet Rilke, contemplating the ancient Mediterranean, and looking at the ancient statues and paintings of Greek myths in the Uffizi Galleries, Florence.
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Winter 2024
Mary Stephenson's art practice is a vibrant exploration of color, form, and emotion. Drawing inspiration from nature, memories, and the human experience, Stephenson creates dynamic compositions that evoke a sense of wonder and introspection. Her work often combines elements of abstraction with hints of realism, inviting viewers to interpret and connect with the pieces on a personal level. With a keen eye for detail and a bold use of palette, Stephenson's art captivates and transports audiences into realms both familiar and fantastical.
Alongside two more artists, Mary took the opportunity to explore and create a film in the residency this past January.