"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the entire team at Xenia Residency for the generous support and inspiring environment during my stay in October 2024. The residency provided not only time and space to delve deeper into my ongoing research, but also the conditions necessary to respond directly to the material and social textures of the place.
My time at Xenia was marked by a balance of focused solitude and meaningful exchange—with fellow residents, local communities, and the surrounding environment. The residency’s openness to experimentation allowed me to explore new directions in my sculptural work, particularly in relation to found materials and kinetic articulation, while reflecting on broader ecological and spatial concerns, as well as my musical endeavours with bass clarinet practice.

The experience greatly contributed to the development of my video project Cleaners, which grew out of daily encounters and small observations collected during walks and material searches. The support from the residency enabled me to approach these gestures not simply as processes of making, but as forms of attunement to the rhythms and transformations of the landscape.

I am thankful for the hospitality, the conversations, and the opportunity to share and develop my work within such a thoughtful and engaged context."

Born

1990,

Ljubljana

About

Enej Gala lives and works between London, Venice and Nova Gorica. He completed his BA and MA in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and graduated from the Royal Academy Schools Postgraduate Programme in London in 2023. In 2014, he participated in an exchange program at the William De Kooning Academy in Rotterdam.

Enej's practice is based on an acute awareness of thinking through making, attempting to grasp the experience of otherness. Puppetry is used as a lens to focus on materials as entities, expanding their potential by exposing and building on their intrinsic qualities. This process questions traditional perspectives on art, craftsmanship, installation, performance and other forms of production.

Recent solo exhibitions include 'Falsetto' at Toast Project space, Florence (2024), After news before bed, Wolfson College Cambridge (2024), 'The invention of footsteps' Almanac, Turin (2023); 'Saving chewing gums from mammoth's hair', text by Treti Galaxie, TJ Boulting, London (2023) and 'Nevereverevereverevereverever learn', text by Marta Papini, Aplusa gallery, Venice (2022). Selected group exhibitions include 'Lapsus Calami', curated by Eddie Peake, Marlborough Gallery, London (2023-24); 'Marking time' at Cooke Latham Gallery, London (2024); 'Objective Objects', Gallery daSein, OCT Creative Park, Shenzhen, (2024); 'Les guerriers, les loups et l'enfant', Moonens Foundation, Bruxelles (2023); 'Camminando sul ciglio di un instante', curated by Sukanya Baskar, Shaelyn Hanes, Eunice Tsang, YCRP FSRR Palazzo Re Rebaudengo, Guarene (2022).

Enej won the Xenia residency award, Bow Arts Almacantar RAW studio award, Wolfson College Cambridge RAS Graduate Prize and Gilbert Bayes Sculpture Scholarship Award.

Visit www.enejgala.com for more information about Enej's work.

About

Enej Gala lives and works between London, Venice and Nova Gorica. He completed his BA and MA in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and graduated from the Royal Academy Schools Postgraduate Programme in London in 2023. In 2014, he participated in an exchange program at the William De Kooning Academy in Rotterdam.

Enej's practice is based on an acute awareness of thinking through making, attempting to grasp the experience of otherness. Puppetry is used as a lens to focus on materials as entities, expanding their potential by exposing and building on their intrinsic qualities. This process questions traditional perspectives on art, craftsmanship, installation, performance and other forms of production.

Recent solo exhibitions include 'Falsetto' at Toast Project space, Florence (2024), After news before bed, Wolfson College Cambridge (2024), 'The invention of footsteps' Almanac, Turin (2023); 'Saving chewing gums from mammoth's hair', text by Treti Galaxie, TJ Boulting, London (2023) and 'Nevereverevereverevereverever learn', text by Marta Papini, Aplusa gallery, Venice (2022). Selected group exhibitions include 'Lapsus Calami', curated by Eddie Peake, Marlborough Gallery, London (2023-24); 'Marking time' at Cooke Latham Gallery, London (2024); 'Objective Objects', Gallery daSein, OCT Creative Park, Shenzhen, (2024); 'Les guerriers, les loups et l'enfant', Moonens Foundation, Bruxelles (2023); 'Camminando sul ciglio di un instante', curated by Sukanya Baskar, Shaelyn Hanes, Eunice Tsang, YCRP FSRR Palazzo Re Rebaudengo, Guarene (2022).

Enej won the Xenia residency award, Bow Arts Almacantar RAW studio award, Wolfson College Cambridge RAS Graduate Prize and Gilbert Bayes Sculpture Scholarship Award.

Visit www.enejgala.com for more information about Enej's work.