Antonia Beard

Artist Images

Residency Images

Testimonial

"It has been almost two months since my time at Xenia.

The residency came at a very particular time in my life and practice. It offered shelter from the storm and provided me with valuable time and space to examine my practice with complete openness and generosity.

This generosity of spirit and kindness is infused throughout the residency programme. In how the spaces are configured and cared for and the concept, philosophy and consideration given to artists throughout their stay. My time there allowed me to gain a profound insight into the undercurrents running throughout the core of my work. Due to the fact that there is no pressure on artists to realise a final outcome, I was able to ask questions of myself and the work that I seldom had the freedom of time and mind to ask. The work created at Xenia was an examination of flint. A stone local to the area and a material which has been prevalent in my practice since 2019. My fascination with flint stems from my interests in human development, our relationship with the environment, how we think and what we perceive. My studies of flint, combined with events in my personal life and the tragedies playing out on the global stage, became a reflection on chalk and flint, life and loss, thought and freedom. During my stay, I had ambitions to visit a flint arrowhead at Salisbury Museum. However, I never made it, and my explorations of the Museum collections only reached as far as the internet and to the discovery of an incredible painting by Turner."

Stonehenge

c.1827–28
By J M W Turner

"The painting is of Stonehenge, a shepherd, and his flock. However, the shepherd has been struck by lightning. The shepherd is dead. My reflections on chalk and flint, life and loss, thought and freedom, therefore, called to question what happens when the spirit that once guided us is gone, when we become driven by fear and insecurity. Bound by the confines of mind or the systems of our reality. What carnage enslaves us?

As I had time to unpack my personal experience of trauma and my family’s struggle with the sudden, devastating, and long-lasting effects of encephalitis. The shepherd struck down by lightning took on a new meaning. I was reminded of the words of poet Mahmoud Darwish.

“You never meet the same person twice, not even in the same person.”

His words struck a chord, and as I reflected upon loss, I was reminded of the triumph of love in the face of huge challenges. That knowledge brought our shared humanity into sharp focus.

Through my time at Xenia, I was grateful to reflect upon the preciousness of life and what it means to cherish each moment and soul. It is with this spirit that we find healing, connection, and love.

Thank you. Having arrived wounded. I left with clarity and gratitude.

With love, Antonia

31/01/2024"

Bio

Born

1991,

Serbia,
United Kingdom

About

Antonia Beard is a London-based artist working across sculpture, installation and photography. Her practice is underpinned by a sense of enquiry, celebration and contemplation as she explores the interwoven narratives present within different situations, objects and landscapes. This often manifests in the form of site-responsive works that connect the elements available at any given site, whilst simultaneously challenging the standard interactions of each environment.

Antonia graduated in 2013 with a degree in Textiles from LCF, University of the Arts London. She spent her formative years in fabric and textiles before starting to develop her practice in 2017. She has exhibited at the Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, 2023; Houghton Festival, Norfolk (2017-23); Groundwork Gallery, Norfolk, UK (2019); Lay of the Land, West Cork, Ireland (2019); Manifesta 12, Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo, Italy (2018); Biennale Urbana, Venice, Italy (2018); Royal College Art, London, UK (2018); Calle Del Forno, Venice, Italy (2017).

For more information about Antonia, please visit her website here: www.antoniabeard.com

Residency Dates

30 October – 24 November 2023