Jerwood Artist in Residence at the Soane

Simon Farid

Simon Farid is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice centres on drawing as an investigative and performative act. Whether tracing bureaucratic systems, re-mapping urban infrastructure, or visually interpreting data flows, Farid uses drawing to render visible the invisible frameworks that govern identity and public life. His work frequently combines traditional draftsmanship with digital processes and speculative cartographies.

Farid approaches drawing as a critical tool - one that reveals, questions, and intervenes in systems of power. His practice often adopts pseudonyms or fictional identities to explore how representation operates across institutional, digital, and architectural contexts. Farid has presented work at institutions including Tate Britain, the Barbican, and international performance festivals.

Simon's residency took place in Spring 2025.

Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq

Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq is a London-based visual artist whose practice is fundamentally rooted in drawing, expanded through sculpture and installation. Known for his monumental graphite works - painstakingly rendered by hand - Ashfaq engages drawing as both process and philosophy. His precision-based approach to geometric abstraction channels drawing into immersive experiences that blur boundaries between the meditative and the architectural.

By working almost exclusively in monochrome and employing traditional materials such as graphite and paper, Ashfaq interrogates the spatial and psychological dimensions of drawn form. His practice exemplifies a commitment to the rigour and resonance of drawing in the contemporary moment. Ashfaq has exhibited widely, including at the Venice Biennale, Royal Academy of Arts, and Jerwood Space.

Mohammed's residency took place in Autumn 2025.

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.

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.

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.

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.