Current Residents
Past Resident2026: Canada Council for the Arts
Élise Lafontaine
Élise Lafontaine’s practice is rooted in immersion, with each research cycle emerging from encounters with historically charged sites shaped by communities of women. From monasteries and carceral or psychiatric institutions to caves in France and the Goetheanum in Switzerland, she explores architectures that blur the boundaries between intimacy and politics, confinement and the sacred. Through a hybrid practice combining two and three-dimensional painting, she translates these spaces into organic abstractions, treating architecture as a metaphor for the body.
Élise Lafontaine has exhibited work at Jack Barrett Gallery, New York; The Armory Show, New York; and Centre d’art et de diffusion CLARK, Montréal, among others.
Events & Exhibitions
2026 Spring Open Studios
April 17–April 18, 2026
Élise Lafontaine, Horizon 22:22, 2025, oil on linen with sewing, 68 × 50 in. (172.72 × 127 cm).
Élise Lafontaine, Her name was I love you III, 2025, oil on linen mounted on volumetric wood, 26 × 20 × 4 in. (66.04 × 50.8 × 10.16 cm).
Élise Lafontaine, Profil_Her name was I love you III, 2025, oil on linen mounted on volumetric wood, 26 × 20 × 4 in. (66.04 × 50.8 × 10.16 cm). Photo by Atlasdocumentation.
Élise Lafontaine, Le chant des tuyaux, 2025, oil on linen mounted on volumetric wood, 9 × 17 × 21/2 in. (22.86 × 43.18 × 6.35 cm).
Élise Lafontaine, Le chant des tuyaux, 2023, installation view, curated by Marie DuPasquier. CLARK CENTER, Montréal, Canada.
Current Resident: Apr 1, 2026–Jun 30, 2026
Fire Station - Qatar Museums
Studio #209
Artist
Dana Hayek
Dana Hayek is a filmmaker and visual storyteller whose work explores memory, identity, and cultural heritage through film, sound, and oral histories. Her practice weaves together interviews, archival material, and everyday imagery to create immersive narratives rooted in place and lived experience. Her work has contributed to museum and exhibition projects, including Beyti Beytak: My Home is Your Home, presented as part of Qatar’s pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Dana Hayek has exhibited work at National Museum of Qatar, Doha; ACP–Palazzo Franchetti, Venice; and Qatar Preparatory School, Doha, among others.
danaal-hayek2023.wixsite.com/dana-hayek
Dana Hayek, Late Night Ride, 2023, film Still, 37/8 × 613/16 in. (9.91 × 17.27 cm).
Dana Hayek, 2022 Butterflies, 2022, digital photograph, 33/8 × 25/16 in. (8.64 × 5.84 cm).
Dana Hayek, Threads of Legacy, 2026, film still, 313/16 × 613/16 in. (9.75 × 17.35 cm).
Dana Hayek, Wadi Rum, 2021, digital photograph, 61/2 × 5.2 x 6.5 in. (16.51 × 5.2 x 6.5 cm).
Dana Hayek, Beyti Beytak, 2025, film still, 35/16 × 613/16 in. (8.38 × 17.27 cm).
Current Resident: Apr 1, 2026–Jun 30, 2026
DOOSAN Art Center
Studio #304
Artist
Wu Bak
Wu Bak is an artist who sees the painter as a mediator rather than a sole creator. For him, painting is shaped by many factors; light, time, space, materials, the body, and memory. Through his work, he reflects on the conditions that shape an image. Alongside his studio practice, he writes critically about art and curates exhibitions.
Wu Bak has exhibited work at Art Sonje Center; PCO; and Space Nine, all in Seoul, among others.
Events & Exhibitions
2026 Spring Open Studios
April 17–April 18, 2026
Wu Bak, Untitled (Diorama), 2019, acrylic on unstretched polyester, 39.4 in × 39.4 in in. (39.4 in × 39.4 in cm).
Wu Bak, Diorama Series, 2021, acrylic on unstretched polyester.
Wu Bak, Untitled (Tracing Shadow), 2021, black gesso and acrylic on canvas, 33.5 in × 82.7 in in. (33.5 in × 82.7 in cm).
Wu Bak, Platform 2, 2023, installation view.
Wu Bak, Steps (on C.P.Cadmium yellow light), 2023, acrylic on polyester, 76.8 in × 513/16 in. (76.8 in × 130.05 cm).
