Artist in Residence
UAL Art for the Environment
Eleni Maragaki was awarded the 2023 Mahler & LeWitt Studios / University of the Arts London, Art for the Environment open call, which supports work by young artists exploring the defining concerns of the 21st century – biodiversity, environmental sustainability, social economy and human rights (more info).
The Mahler & LeWitt Studios residency encouraged me to develop my practice in two key areas: studio-based work, and physical exploration of the territory. I had the opportunity to examine first-hand, through a series of walks, the unique dialogue which exists between the old town of Spoleto and its surrounding natural elements. The body of work I created reflects my interest in bridging the dichotomy between urban construction and the natural environment. In Spoleto, I became interested in using distortion techniques on a series of landscape photographs I had taken during the walks. I experimented with various methods, including fragmentation and repetition. The works I developed merge the immense organic flows of life that constitute the landscape, such as the mountains and forests that surround Spoleto, with the strict perfection and precision of geometry, as a symbol of the manmade and the artificial.
Maragaki is a visual artist born in Athens, Greece. Her work explores the meeting points between urban construction and the natural environment. As a response to densely manufactured urban space, she is inspired by the delicacy found in the systems of natural structures, including chemical elements and crystals.
Maragaki is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. She studied Painting in the Athens School of Fine Arts (2013-2018) and MA Fine Art in Central Saint Martins, UAL (2020-2022), as a recipient of the Mona Hatoum Bursaries Award. She has taken part in numerous exhibitions including a screening in LUX Moving Image (London), a group show in the Art Station Dubulti (Latvia) and the Shijiazhuang Youth Art Biennale in Hebei (China). In 2023, she was the winner of the TATE Christmas Card Competition, the Muse Gallery Residency Award and a finalist for the First Plinth: Public Art Award. One of her recent projects was public commission for a light installation by Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Artist website: elenimaragaki.com