We were invited by the British Council and Create London to host contemporary artist Sakshi Gupta from Mumbai, India for the Housewarming Residency.  Due to the pandemic, the residency programme moved online, and we collaborated virtually with Sakshi to create her piece Memories of Things Unseen, pictured above, in the new British Council Headquarters in Stratford.

Sakshi Gupta is a sculptor working primarily with industrial waste materials. Her work seeks to answer questions regarding waste, recycling and industry as well as the natural world’s relationship to the manufactured. Sakshi designed the form and shape of the sculpture to convey a disrupted canopy, suspended in mid-air, using scrap corrugated iron sheeting from construction sites.  The material reflects dismantled temporary settlements, ideas of movement and the need for stability. This form is symbolic in marking global events of our time, including climate change, the displacement of people and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Memories of Things Unseen, Sakshi Gupta, © Agnese Sanvito

Blackhorse Workshop was one of three east London organisations hosting international artists remotely. Rabbits Road Press hosted Shehzil Malik, a designer and illustrator from Pakistan. Her piece An Island Ruled By Queens, is a series of wallpaper and digital prints on fabric, exploring themes around the meaning of home and how women navigate public space, inspired by conversations Malik has had with east London artists.  The works were created in collaboration with OOMK (One Of My Kind) from digital collage and riso-printing.

An Island Ruled by Queens, Shehzil Malik, © Agnese Sanvito

Troy Town Art Pottery hosted Mexican artist and architect Daniel Valero to create Casts of Hoxton, a set of sculptural planters for the new building’s glasshouse. Valero worked with young people from Hoxton Gardenware in collecting photographs of the Hoxton area and discussing what mattered to them most about their neighbourhood. The group looked at the brickwork, palette, forms and features of the surrounding area, forming the design and materiality of the finished design.

Casts of Hoxton, Daniel Valero, © Agnese Sanvito

Photo credits: Agnese Sanvito