A R T I S T
R E S I D E N C Y

Following her latest body of work for Smithson Projects, we delve deeper into Katie Mawson's recent artist residency with Studio Faire in the small French town of Nérac...

Studio Faire is the brainchild and project of Scottish creatives Julia Douglas and Colin Usher. Nestled on the edge of the vibrant market town of Nérac, situated between Bordeaux and Toulouse, their vision of setting up a creative artist residency was realised upon extending their search beyond Scotland and finding the characterful French property. Featuring beautiful gardens and ample rooms to be renovated into creative spaces for up to four residents, Studio Faire was born.

Over the course of the two-week residency, Katie and her fellow three residents were invited to interesting day trips around the local area, but largely left to establish and enjoy their own routines. The self-guided nature of the residency appealed to Katie, who enjoyed having the balance of interaction with other residents alongside the independence to explore, often taking lone walks along the quiet streets of Nérac to soak up the textures and decaying beauty of the old town.

In this way, much of the work created during her time in France was inspired by the patina and colours of Nérac’s sun-bleached shutters, peeling painted doors and crumbling buildings, which can be felt in ‘Symmetry', ‘Segmented’ and ‘Outside My Window’. 

For the first time, Katie was able to lay each cover out across the studio floor and view the collection as one whole: a myriad of shapes, shades, and sizes; a kaleidoscopic field of colour.

At the house, she was presented with a spacious studio to work in, complete with tall French doors framed with dark green shutters. Each morning and night required opening and closing up the shutters, a ritual that marked the beginning and end of each workday.

Having access to this larger space in turn opened up new ideas and possibilities for Katie, allowing her to view and approach her practice on a larger scale than had previously been possible. Unpacking the stacks of book covers she had brought with her to work from, for the first time she was able to lay each cover out across the studio floor and view the collection as one whole: a myriad of shapes, shades, and sizes; a kaleidoscopic field of colour.  

Whilst her studio space in the UK does limit her capacity to create larger works, Katie returned from the residency with an overall shift in perspective and new sense of creative freedom concerning the scale and composition of her works. We are delighted to present her latest body of work showcasing this evolving direction.