Art Residency: “Go there as an empty slate” The artist Loreal Prystaj on her SWAP: UK/Ukraine residency

Loreal Prystaj was invited to take part in the residency programme SWAP: UK/Ukraine residency for artists and curators, where, among others, she fostered her immense love, curiosity, and interest for Ukraine. She shares her story from this special residency and discloses details about her current artwork. Loreal Prystaj is a visual artist based in London. Her work is grounded in disrupting the “conventional” environment to reveal its psychological impact on the individual or collective. Using photography, moving images, sculpture, and installation, she constructs amise en scène highlighting the relationship between the environment and its effect on one’s subconscious through storytelling and symbolism.

Sylwia Krasoń: How did you find out about the residency programme? How did you apply?

Loreal Prystaj: While I was attending the Royal College of Art, I was introduced to the opportunity by one of the staff at RCA about the UK/Ukraine SWAP Artist Residency. My immense love, curiosity, and interest for Ukraine were the catalyst to apply; I found this to be the perfect opportunity to explore my roots–as it is my heritage–and create art while doing so. The application required showing an archive of completed previous works, alongside a proposal for what I would like to research and create while at the artist residency– I expressed my interest in researching the archives at the Center for Urban History in Lviv to learn more about my ethnicity, alongside discovering more about my family lineage still in Ukraine.

SK: What does your regular art residency day look like?

When attending any Art Residency, I start by allowing my curiosity to lead me in any direction. By exploring where I am, I inevitably stumble upon something new, resulting in a sense of discovery, which excites me– I believe as an artist, it is essential to feel enthused by one own’s journey toward conceptualizing and creating work.

As for the UK/Ukraine SWAP Artist Residency, I was selected to research at the Center of Urban History in Lviv. I explored the archives there and rummaged through until I found what intrigued me most–I found a collection of films capturing people’s day-to-day routine and home video footage fascinating. As I observed further, I noticed the close-up captures of the hands– either baking, sewing, building, making, etc. Hands are so gestural and say so much about a person – I felt I was watching characters personified solo by the ‘working’ hand or ‘creative’ hand – In Isolation, the hand becomes an anonymous character – either a ‘working’ or ‘creative’ storyteller. The ‘working hand’ is a character that endures the task of building, constructing, or assembling our everyday architectural surroundings while the ‘creative hand’ makes, invents, and produces; decorating our everyday surroundings, often as a form of internal or emotional expression. The two are very different, but they both have in common the ability to bring security or comfort, either objectively or subjectively – past, present, and future.

 Tell us about the project that you are working on right now?

Presently I am focusing on the body as an archive that obtains, collects, and retains experience–past and present–and how our subconscious and dreams become a source for revealing cycles of life, death, and rebirth; in other words, transformation. The work reveals symbolism and narrative in our everyday surroundings through storytelling. I am immersed now, creating dialogues between sculpture, sounds, moving images, and photography, and I look forward to seeing its final result. 

Does the change of context help you in the creation process?

The change in context and location is most helpful for shifting my perspective and inspiring new work. For example, when I was in Ukraine, despite my having curiosity about the film archives at the Center for Urban History in Lviv, I was curious about the architecture in Lviv, the people, the food, and all that the city had to offer. Exploring helped the creation process in both works made in Ukraine; ‘Incessant metronome’ and ‘Selvedges redefined’.  

Do you place an emphasis on your work or rather on meeting people and exploring the city?

Both.  Exploring the city and meeting people often come first, as those elements make a city unique and memorable. Then, the sources of great inspiration for the artwork come. Once I discover what I would like to create and share, I become focused on obtaining all the material and research needed to bring the work to its fullest potential. 

What challenges and opportunities did the Residency involve?

The Residency solely provided opportunities, from research material to organizing talks and events. Everyone at The Lviv Center for Urban History was genuinely supportive and amazing people I can call friends today. The challenges I faced were merely feeling up against the clock with my research and artworks. 

Name three objects which are the most important to you during the Residency.

I bring my camera, film, and creative notebooks– an archive of ideas and experiences–for every art residency I attend. 

What is the role of the institution in your Residency? What does it provide you with?

I worked closely with the Lviv Center for Urban History– an independent research institution working across several areas: urban history research, digital humanities and archiving, and public history. Everyone there was truly incredible–they ran events and talks at the Center alongside were supportive to me and anyone researching at the centre. They walked me through if I had any questions and directed me where to go specifically. I learned so much while I was there and am genuinely grateful for the immense support provided by the Center for Urban History Team!

What would you recommend to artists going abroad for an art residency?

Be curious! Go to Art Residencies as an empty slate. Be opened minded, as though you are a dry sponge ready to soak up your environment. Create new experiences for yourself that will bring you a new perspective and new ideas. Learn something about yourself you hadn’t known before. Art residencies are an experience meant for you to not only create and make work but grow. Explore, Discover, then create! 

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