Estel Fonseca
Residency at Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GB-SCT), as part of a cross-residency program.
Estel Fonseca was born in 1987 and lives and works in Marseille.
My interest in notions of presence, use and temporality intersects with obsessions linked to the act of seeing, the ability to improvise, bodies, materials, scraps and margins. To work with, to be attentive to what contaminates, to choose what rises to the surface. To be an artist like a seismologist, who - by listening to what surrounds him, by exploring the unpredictable nature of the world - can announce that a volcano is about to erupt somewhere. Readjusting modes of existence, being and becoming, whether in the face of an aesthetic composition project or an illness, with the idea that everything is in metamorphosis in a singular movement. Being in your body, with your whole body: where are the obstacles?
Before devoting herself to self-expression, Estel Fonseca gained experience in the film industry as a member of the programming teams for two festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Marseille, as well as in the making of cinema films, then with the association Sextant et plus. Drawing on these diverse experiences, she has learned to recognize what is essential, to seek without knowing what, guided by the people and situations that seem necessary to her. She builds her universe from these whispers. Since 2016, at the same time as taking time to enrich her plastic and visual interests, she has been taking care of her mental, emotional and physical body, in a total commitment to herself. In 2016, she held a group show at 40mcube’s HubHug in Rennes, entitled “Le tremblement est invisible” (“The Tremble is Invisible”), followed in 2017 by “Sauvetage vertical” (“Vertical Rescue”) at Galerie Straat in Marseille. Everything happens organically, geologically, far from deciding everything, things impose themselves like volcanoes erupt. It’s a question of posture and using what comes.
(texts by the artist)
In 2022, Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GSS) and Triangle-Astérides celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Residency Exchange programme.
Established in 2012, the residency exchange is designed for artists at a pivotal point in their career who have not had major institutional support or the opportunity to develop work abroad. The programme enables Glasgow-based artists and creative practitioners to work, share practice, and learn new skills in France, while facilitating the reciprocal experience for artists based in Marseille to travel to Glasgow and experience the cultural landscape of Scotland.
The partnership between GSS and Triangle-Astérides developed from Glasgow and Marseille’s designation as twin cities in 2006. Both organisations have a history of making culture a centrepiece of life within their cities. Based in former industrial hubs, GSS and Triangle-Astérides share similar objectives, challenges, and working contexts. Both organisations underpin the creative communities of their respective cities through nurturing a supportive and diverse artistic community and providing access to access to artist studios, high-quality production facilities, and cultural networks.
As we continue into another decade of the Residency Exchange Programme, we have formalised the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) as partners in the project. The CCA team have long been supporters of this programme in a variety of ways; through studio visits, in-kind support, and working with the incoming artists from Marseille to present public outcomes from their residency as part of CCA’s Open Source Programme, we are excited to continue to acknowledge and embed this support in our exchange programme.
As organisations, GSS and CCA complement each other well; with GSS able to offer the space and resources to make work, and CCA offering the space and means to share work in addition to offering their Artist Flat as accommodation. Through working in partnership and combining our skills, resources, and expertise as organisations we’re able to provide an enhanced offer to artists from Marseille that will ensure they are well positioned to make the most of creative ecology of Glasgow.
