Current Residents

Italy

Past Resident
2026: Solares Fondazione delle Arti

Artist

Elena Ketra

Elena Ketra is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the body as a political territory and a space for resistance. Through sculpture, photography, and performance, she reconfigures symbols of femininity and power into tools for emancipation. Drawing from pop aesthetics and queer culture, her research-led practice balances irony and manifesto to challenge imposed identities. Her works function as relational devices, inviting the audience to renegotiate their position within systems of gender, power, and social expectations.

Elena Elektra has exhibited work at Museo Madre Napoli, Naples; Mucciaccia Gallery, Rome; and Videocittà, International Festival of Vision and Digital Culture, Rome, among others.

This work performs a radical semantic deconstruction of the brass knuckles, an object rooted in an aesthetic of violence and a masculine ritual of aggression. Through a functional transformation, the weapon relinquishes its coercive nature to become a rocking carousel: a playful device intended for the community. The use of pink and the reference to an aesthetic linked to femininity serve as acts of political subversion, claiming a space of transformative power capable of disarming the object. By replacing the practice of conflict with that of shared play, the work suggests a new relational architecture aimed at collective well-being and aesthetic joy.

Elena Ketra, GIRLPOWER 4010, 2015-ongoing, rocking sculpture, 35³/₈ × 60³/₁₆ × 15 in. (89.92 × 152.91 × 38.1 cm).

Utereyes is a neologism by the artist that combines the words Uterus and Eyes. It is a pattern composed of two stylized uteruses, the reflection of one on the other creates an eye that symbolically represents awareness. Utereyes represents women's freedom to choose, both of their bodies and their sexuality. It is an active, consenting and vigilant uterus, no longer a passive one that suffers the impositions of others, whether for social, ethical or religious dogmas. It is the symbol of the freedom to be first and foremost a person, beyond gender. The development of Utereyes is a continuous work in progress, depending on the material that intrigues me, from printing to sewing, the last action being a tapestry work’. Utereyes reimagines the uterus as a conscious, watchful presence. No longer a passive biological symbol, it becomes a self-aware entity capable of choosing, observing, and resisting. By transforming a historically controlled and politicized organ into an icon of agency, the work challenges narratives of vulnerability and reframes the body as a site of power rather than subordination.

Elena Ketra, UTEREYES, 2024-ongoing, textile art, 43⁵/₁₆ × 51³/₁₆ × 3⁷/₈ in. (109.98 × 130.05 × 9.91 cm).

Ketrioska arises at the intersection of tradition and contemporary reflection, merging popular culture with explorations of female identity. Inspired by Russian matryoshkas, ancestral symbols of maternity and generational continuity, the work reimagines the contemporary woman as autonomous, creative, and self-determining. No longer defined solely by biological or socially prescribed roles, the female figure asserts herself as a free agent, capable of constructing and shaping her own identity. The surface of the sculpture is adorned with Ketra’s Utereyes motif, celebrating femininity as a source of strength, awareness, and potential, far from any constraints or limitations. Functioning both as vessel and symbol, Ketrioska can hold flowers, jewelry, or other personal objects, embodying the idea of what is chosen to be treasured and protected. As a conceptual sculpture, it invites reflection on multiplicity of identity and self-definition, proposing a visual language of female autonomy, transformation, and continual reinvention. Ketrioska stands as an emblem of a fluid, dynamic, and empowered femininity

Elena Ketra, KETRIOSKA, 2024-25, ceramic, 7⁷/₈ × 15¹¹/₁₆ × 5⁷/₈ in. (20.07 × 39.88 × 14.99 cm).

Sologamy is a digital performance that explores the phenomenon of self-marriage as a contemporary ritual of autonomy. Through sologamy.org—the first online platform where people can symbolically marry themselves—Ketra questions the social architecture of romantic validation and the institutional frameworks that define personal fulfilment. The work operates at the intersection of performance and social commentary, transforming an intimate gesture into a collective reflection on self-recognition. The project premiered at the Videocittà International Festival in Rome, where over 300 people symbolically married themselves, sparking a widespread national debate on self-identity and contemporary rituals. The term sologamy entered the Treccani dictionary in 2025 as a recognized neologism. It is accompanied by a published fanzine and the critical essay Sologamy, the Art of Marrying Oneself (Exibart Edizioni), tracing both the social phenomenon and the development of the artistic performance, extending the work beyond the digital platform into research and theoretical reflection.

Elena Ketra, SOLOGAMY, 2022-ongoing, digital performance.

It is a multidisciplinary project structured in modules between artisanal practice, photos, videos, performances and a collective self-defense course. Luchadoras is a multidisciplinary project, supported by Fondazione Solares delle Arti, celebrating female agency and empowerment through the iconic figures of Mexican lucha libre. The work combines historical research, design, performance, and social activism to create a dialogue on inclusion, resilience, and autonomy. At the heart of the project is a performative happening: a free self-defense course for girls and women, fostering the rediscovery of the body as a tool of strength, harmony, and expression. This experiential action integrates with a visual narrative, where handcrafted masks worn by the artist serve as metaphors of transformation and resistance against gender-based violence. Ketra draws inspiration from luchadoras who, through their masks, turned experiences of abuse and marginalization into acts of power and visibility. Each of the nine masks functions as a visual manifesto of identity and empowerment, translating personal and collective resilience into an aesthetic and socially engaged artistic intervention.

Elena Ketra, LUCHADORAS, 2025-26, multidisciplinary project.

Residents from Italy

Chiara Ianeselli

Italy

Italian Council - Directorate-General for Contemporary Art and Architecture and Urban Peripheries (DGAAP) at the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities

2024

Raffaela Naldi Rossano

Italy, Greece

The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University, Italian Cultural Institute of New York, Directorate-General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture

2024

Valentina Furian

Italy

The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University, Italian Cultural Institute of New York

2024

Donate

Austria, Slovakia

Current Resident: May 1, 2026–Aug 31, 2026

Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport Republic of Austria

Studio #218

Artist

Robert Gabris

Robert Gabris’s work engages in a critical examination of fluid and changeable identity through drawing and experimental forms of performance, employing deconstruction and an ongoing quest to challenge boundaries. His practice is driven by an obsessive desire for proportion and symmetry, reflecting the constant tension between self-identity and societal projections. At the heart of his work lies a commitment to resisting exclusion and confronting systemic racism, using unrest as a form of resistance. He interrogates the fluidity of identity within patriarchal frameworks.

Robert Gabris has exhibited work at MUMOK, Vienna; 2024 La Biennale de Lyon, Lyon; and Belvedere 21, Vienna, among others.

robertgabris.com

Robert Gabris, Asylum - A Poem Of Unrest, 2024, performance.

Robert Gabris, Duv, 2026, drawing.

Robert Gabris, Insectopia, 2020, performance.

Robert Gabris, You Will Never Belong Into My Space, 2021, photography.

Robert Gabris, Error, 2021, installation.

Residents from Austria

Michaela Payer and Martin Gabriel

Austria

Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport Republic of Austria

Studio #212

Elisabeth Molin

Denmark, United Kingdom, Austria

Danish Arts Foundation

2026

Andreia Santana

Austria, Portugal

Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD)

2026

Donate

Sweden, Denmark

Current Resident: May 1, 2026–Aug 31, 2026

Danish Arts Foundation

Studio #207

Artist

Aske Thiberg

Aske Thiberg’s work spans performance, video, text, and music, emerging from his background in 3D animation and dance. Driven by an interest in the social disconnection that shapes everyday life, Thiberg creates works and exhibitions that simultaneously echo both the physical and digital worlds. His practice ultimately explores themes of loneliness and alienation, anxiety and melancholy, rhythm and weight, at times playful, at times deeply serious.

Aske Thiberg has exhibited work at Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Germany; Den Frie Center for Contemporary Art, Denmark; and Malmö Art Museum, Sweden, among others.

askethiberg.com