Paul Noble and Nika Neelova stand together in the Drawing Office of Sir John Soane's Museum.
Paul Noble and Nika Neelova. Photo by Harriet Crisp.

Artist at Soane Residency

The Drawing Office was where Soane’s draftsmen and apprenticeships worked up his celebrated projects. Just as Soane supported the next generation of architectural talent, the restoration of the Drawing Office in 2023 marked the beginning of a new residency programme at the Soane. Two three-month residents are hosted per year (in the Spring and the Autumn). The two residents are able to work in the Office and will also be able to use the Museum’s collection, exhibitions and education programme to inspire and inform their work.

The two residents for 2024 are sculptor Nika Neelova and artist Paul Noble.

Meet our residents, past and present, below. Applications for 2025 will open in the autumn.

How to apply

Our 2024 residents

Nika Neelova, wearing a black jacket and grey hat, stands in the Drawing Office at Sir John Soane's Museum.

Nika Neelova

Nika Neelova lives and works in London, where she received her Masters Degree from the Slade School of Art, after graduating with a BA degree from the Royal Art Academy, KABK. She first gained recognition for her large-scale sculptures and sculptural installations, depicting complex, imaginary environments that suggest a place or a landscape out of time. She participated in numerous residencies and her work is represented in various public and private collections internationally.

Her work has been exhibited in the United Kingdom and internationally, recent solo exhibitions include Very Like a Whale at the Santorini Museum in Greece (2023), Thaw at Noire Gallery in Turin (2023), One of Many Fragments at the New Art Centre, Roche Court (2021), Silt at Brighton CCA (2021), CELINE Art Project curated by Hedi Slimane for Celine London (2021), [ъ] [ы] [ь] at Garage MCA (2021), Ever at The Tetley, Leeds (2019).

She began her residency at the Soane in May 2024.

Visit Nika's website
Paul Noble stands in the Drawing Office at Sir John Soane's Museum.

Paul Noble

Paul Noble was born in Northumberland, in 1963. A meticulous and dedicated draughtsman, Paul creates dizzyingly elaborate encrypted schemes, drawing from inspirations as diverse as ancient Chinese scrolls and Japanese sculptures, Fabergé eggs and brick walls, eighteenth-century pornography and animal rights literature, Hieronymous Bosch and Öyvind Fahlström.

He was included in Abracadabra at the Tate Gallery, London in 1999 and the British Art Show in 2000. In 2002, he took part in Drawing Now: Eight Propositions, Museum of Modern Art, New York and (The World May Be) Fantastic, Biennale of Sydney, Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include Paul Noble: New Works, Gagosian, San Francisco (2017); Paul Noble: Nobson, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2014); The Gates, Gagosian, Athens (2013) and Marble Hall, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2011). Paul Noble was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2012. He lives and works in London.

Visit Paul's website

Our 2023 residents

Sam Belinfante in the Drawing Office at Sir John Soane's Museum.

Sam Belinfante

Sam Belinfante is a well-established artist whose practice incorporates curating, sound and performance, along with filmmaking and photographic work. He was an artist in residence at Camden Arts Centre between 2015 and 2016, where he created the performance On the One Hand and the Other. Most recently, he undertook a major commission for Folkestone Triennial in which he (re)imagined sites for sculpture and performance across Folkestone town. For his time at the Soane, he plans study Soane’s archives in relationship to ‘theatre’, and will make audio-visual recordings of the collections, focusing on drawings and models of theatrical spaces.

Sam began his residency in April 2023 and concluded his time at the Museum with an in conversation event with Professor Griselda Pollock, as well as an evening of music and performance inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Visit Sam's website
Ella Baron in the Drawing Office at Sir John Soane's Museum.

Ella Baron

Ella Baron is a cartoonist and comics artist. Her political cartoons have been published by The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, The FT and The TLS. A comic she drew in South Sudan on commission for the medical aid charity MSF was recently exhibited at The Cartoon Museum. Her debut graphic novel, Interface will be published by Virago in 2025. Set in a near-future, Interface explores urban inequality with technically drawn panels, highly influenced by architectural drawings and techniques. Thus, during her Residency, she aims to draw inspiration from Soane’s visionary collection of objects, architectural elements, drawings, and engravings, particularly those by Hogarth. 

Ella's residency began in September 2023, and concluded with two events in Jaunary 2024: a co-curated Soane Late, and an 'In Conversation' event about drawing and satire with author John O'Farrell, which you can watch in full.

Visit Ella's website
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