Beijing is obviously one of the foremost political and economical centres in the world and is at the same time culturally outstanding and of great significance. Out of this reason any kind of study of the surfaces of this city is of paradigmatic meaning.
According to my special interests in signs, codes, colours, objects, architecture (especially the very modern one) and small, subjective moments in the city I want to bring together a great number of interesting details with the medium photography, conbined into detailed modular patterns. I will not produce explicit studio work in Beijing, because this I always and only do in my Viennese studio. So my studio will mainly be the City of Beijing.

 

Grace Lang is 26 years old and living in Brooklyn,New York. Holding a BFA in Illustration from Parsons School of Design, as well as a BA in Literature from Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts, Grace's goal is to give her internal demons form and, in turn, the warriors who will slay them. Continually preoccupied with the concept of personal “demons,” her work reflects the internal struggles that plague us all, creating visual manifestations of those dark little thoughts that are at once frightening and sort of funny. Much of Grace's art stems from the belief that these personal demons are not necessarily enemies but, rather, aspects of ourselves that can be utilized for good. With each difficult experience, our armor grows and we become the warriors of our own worlds.

 

I see the purpose of an arts residency as gift of time. A time to focus on just making art without the distractions of work or other daily errands that can consume most of the day. I can make an effort to really push the ideas behind my art; start on a major project that has been gestating in my head; or even use the opportunity to explore something totally new. I expect the experience to take a lot out of me (physically, spiritually, and mentally) but that is exactly what I am looking for. I need to make myself uncomfortable and to really question the things that I do because those are the times when growth and discovery truly happens.

 

Sonia is a PhD Candidate at QCA Griffith University, Qld Australia. Her research project is :Ageism and the mature dancer. The research examines the role of dancers who extend beyond the paradigm of age and their contribution to current dialogues in the field of dance. So far the research has taken her to the UK, Holland, Sweden and Germany.

Sonia was very fortunate to have a RGR in 2012 where she photographed LDTX Beijing Dance company and the images were later featured in the Ballarat Foto Biennale and the Qld Centre for Photography. Sonia hopes to revisit the company during this residency as well as write part of the thesis for the PhD.