Starting in 2023, one US based applicant per season of the International Residency will be awarded a Full Fellowship, which covers all program fees for the season. A jury consisting of NARS staff and select art professionals review applications on the merit of artistic quality and level of need; studio practice; and the potential professional development and benefit from engaging with the NARS community. Only US based artists are eligible to receive the Full Fellowship.
Ali Kaeini, an Iranian artist, explores themes of displacement and historical identity through his art. His work delves into memories, forgetfulness, war, power, and solitude, drawing inspiration from Iranian history, art, and architecture. Ali creates intricate geometric structures intertwined with organic, spiral forms, departing from traditional techniques in a rebellious manner. His suspended paintings in space create a sense of barrier and wall, each painting acting as an independent landscape and a wall in front of another. The silhouettes of museum objects in his work serve as metaphors for the displaced body.
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Basharat Ali Syed's practice explores the collective catharsis inherent to post-colonial identity and examines the regressive dichotomy of ontological existence within a cross-border conflict nation. The work assembles to interrogate the variance of colonial legacies of structural violence and dispossession. The encounter with political displacement has disrupted conventional notions of belonging, compelling the cultivation of a sense of home in places that were never inherently home. His practice explores the remnants of memory in cultures of oppression while evoking ironic hybridity between reverence and violence.
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Mar Figueroa is an Ecuadorian-born painter currently based in New York. In her surreal autobiographical paintings, she explores her multifaceted identity and honors her Andean heritage. In 2020, she was recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient in the Art & Style and Immigrant categories. More recently, she was an artist in residence at Silver Art's Project in the World Trade Center and awarded the Hopper Prize in 2023. She currently serves as a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts. Mar Figueroa received her education at the Rhode Island School of Design.
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wei works at the intersection of Performance, Sound, Movement, Print Media, and Design. Their practice researches and expresses the mapping of Queerness and Foreignness. Their work investigates the betwixt & between under the homogenous timeline that is experienced by the marginalized, as well as examines the ephemeral togetherness to trace the imprints of existence by contextualizing one’s and one’s collective’s present. Their current project emphasizes reconfiguring object/subject relationships within the confines of systems that exclude queer and immigrant bodies and re-evaluates the definition and experience of authenticity within the generations of the Asian diaspora and Asian immigrants.
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Abed Elmaji Shalabi ‘s work is rooted in the transformation of everyday objects into emotionally and politically-charged sculptures. Shalabi uses ceramic as the main material in his work, allowing him to create visually-appealing gloss objects that conceal their fragile and dysfunctional nature. Through a combination of ceramic, found objects, concrete, wood, and aluminum, Shalabi's work blurs the line between fragility and solidity. His work explores the intersection of Western and Arab cultures, highlighting the gap between the promises and realities of capitalist urban design. Shalabi's installations are theatrical spaces that examine power structures and gender relationships, particularly as they relate to the experiences of queer individuals and the Arab community.
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