She CURAtes The Residency
Editor-In-Chief Amanda Quinn Olivar speaks with inaugural residency artists Precious Opara and Soumya Netrabile.
She CURAtes The Residency is a pioneering artist residency program founded by Mollie E Barnes of She Curates and Georgia Powell and Liza Shapiro of CURA Art. The initiative was created in response to the growing demand for, and inaccessibility of, funded residency programs internationally for underrepresented artists.
The Residency uses a unique approach; each artist is sponsored and supported by a patron. The program unites underrepresented artists from various backgrounds, stages of careers, ages, mediums, and commitments, with vital support. The Residency works to create a growing ecosystem for artists and collectors, supporting patronage with a purpose.
Precious Opara
Precious Opara is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist born and based in London. Opara’s practice involves painting, collage, and site-specific installation. She focuses on the human body and natural landscapes in a surrealistic style. She blurs the lines between body and landscape—making her emotional experiences tangible to the viewer. Natural surroundings are an essential motif in her work, providing a freeing space where Opara depicts her body with validity. It also allows her style of “manipulation” to coexist.
Opara studied Creative Direction at the London College of Fashion. There, she was introduced to the fashion world and drew connections to her art, becoming an art director. Opara desires her artworks to possess a soul-like essence. She encourages this idea to translate across all of her mediums.
Amanda Quinn Olivar: To start, please tell our readers about your background and art practice.
Precious Opara: I'm Precious Opara, born in South London, and I'm an Aries with a foot constantly in a daydream! I am lucky to be from a large Nigerian family that didn't always understand but eventually supported my artistic journey. While art has been prominent in my life since childhood, I went to fashion school at London College Fashion in 2016. 2020's lockdown allowed me time to reconnect with my practice. It felt like a homecoming. This period was transformative in my life's direction, confirming my desire to build a career as an artist.
AQO: What's the most important part of your process?
PO: Living and then being alone. My work is primarily self-referential, discussing emotional states translated through the body and its relationship with natural landscapes. I can get hit by such random sources of inspiration like a conversation, a shape, or just sitting in a park. Once I get it, I like to be alone to sketch and daydream about it, trying to grasp a strong mental image to kick off a new work—it's thrilling to me! I also like challenging myself to "figure it out" when sometimes the result isn't so clear, because hitting the point of realization during a work in progress truly is a satiating experience.
AQO: How did you learn about She Curates: The Residency?
PO: From the initial introduction to the Villa Lena residency, I felt an instant alignment with it and what I required for my creative process. At that time, I struggled to find a stable place to do new works, which seriously affected my desire to make and visualize new concepts. The invitation was indeed a godsend as it was the perfect haven to recalibrate my focus and once again draw connections with the natural landscapes that facilitated my ideas and resultant works.
AQO: What was the highlight of your time there?
PO: The highlight was meeting so many amazing people worldwide and how easily we bonded and formed a mini community space. There was such warm energy, where we all shared and learned from one another daily. It was an invaluable pocket of fantasy and friendship, where, with most of us coming from such busy lives, we could live without burdening distractions and just be.
AQO: What are you doing right now, and what impact do you think The Residency will have on your career?
PO: Being there helped me to accept that I'm on a journey (thanks, Soumya!) and to look forward to my future developments instead of needlessly pressuring myself. While I can't know what will become of the responses to my time and work during the residency, I do know that the fortitude I've gained in my artistic path is what I am taking forth with me in my career. Right now, I'm back in London, just enjoying the space and the task of building a body of originals that best represents who I am as an artist at this period.
Precious Opara, If I Can’t Fly, I’ll Swim, 2022, oil, oil stick on canvas, 24 x 36 inches
Precious Opara, Summed Up (Seated), 2022, oil, oil pastel and oil stick on canvas, 20 x 28 inches
Precious Opara, Summed Up (Portrait), 2022, oil, oil pastel, and oil stick on canvas, 20 x 28 inches
Soumya Netrabile
Soumya Netrabile was born in Bangalore and currently lives and works in Chicago. She received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BSEE in engineering from Rutgers University. She has had recent solo exhibitions at Andrew Rafacz (Chicago, IL), Pt.2 Gallery (Oakland, CA), and Terra Incognito (Oak Park, IL). Recent group exhibitions include La Loma Projects, Los Angeles, CA; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA; Trinta Gallery (Santiago de Compostela, ESP); PRACTISE (Oak Park, IL); and KARMA, New York, NY. Her work is included in both public and private collections.
Amanda Quinn Olivar: To start, please tell our readers about your background and art practice.
Soumya Netrabile: I am originally from India, but I've lived in the United States since I was seven. I live and work in Chicago, which I've called home for several years. I'm primarily a painter, but I also make ceramic sculptures. The paintings have consumed most of my time over the last few years, so I cannot work on the ceramics as often as I'd like. My recent work is mainly semi-abstract and connected to my evolving relationship with the forest near my home. Over the last few years, I have been spending a lot of time inside a local forest preserve, observing and absorbing phenomenological experiences and studying the numerous relationships inside its ecosystem.
AQO: What's the most important part of your process?
SN: Honestly, this is hard to reduce because I see all the active components as essential. The input from observation and interaction with nature, animals, and people are as crucial as the various painting experiments and processes in the studio. And then, the many influences from reading, research, listening to music and looking at art also inform the work. It's difficult for me to assign more value to one part over the others.
AQO: How did you learn about She Curates: The Residency?
SN: I was invited and sponsored by Liza Shapiro and Georgia Powell, who make up the team at CURA Art. Along with Mollie Barnes, they emailed me in the spring and asked if I'd be interested in doing a residency at Villa Lena, located in the region of Toiano. I'd never heard of this place before, so naturally, I looked it up and was immediately taken with the house and the locale. Of course, I soon agreed to go. What attracted me most to this opportunity was that the villa was remotely located and surrounded by 500+ hectares of dense forest. I was eager to have four weeks to explore and learn about a different natural environment and discover the nuances of a different kind of light.
AQO: What was the highlight of your time there?
SN: There were two! First were all the people I met—artists and the staff who worked at the residency. There were people of different disciplines from all around the world—painters, filmmakers, ceramicists, photographers, chefs, and yogis. Everyone had unique backgrounds and generously shared their stories, dreams, and opinions over the most delicious meals. The camaraderie and energy were exceptional.
The other highlight was the land surrounding Villa Lena. The landscape in Toiano was, on the surface, bucolic and peaceful but also held strange undercurrents which were enchanting yet unsettling. The nature and wildlife had an almost primordial quality to them. Every time I went into the inner parts of the forest, I felt like I was traveling to a different time. As the weeks went on, I became more and more intrigued by the psychic energy that existed in the depth of the forest. It's not something I will easily forget.
AQO: What are you doing right now, and what impact do you think The Residency will have on your career?
SN: Right now, I'm back in the studio making work for a solo in November at Part 2 Gallery in Oakland. I also have a group show in New York around the same time.
I'd never done an artist's residency before, so this was a beneficial learning experience. I know I would like to do another one. As far as the impact on my career, that's a hard thing to predict. The art world is so mercurial, so much of it being out of my control, that I don't like to set up too many expectations. Aside from my new friendships and connections, I think the residency experience increased my audience. The hotel connected to the villa hosted weekly aperitifs where hotel guests would pop into the studios, and through these, I met many new people. But really, I believe the significant impact going forward will be my experience of the land itself.
Soumya Netrabile, Bear Canyon, 2022, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches
Soumya Netrabile, Untitled (Toiano), 2022, watercolor on paper, 22 x 28 inches
Soumya Netrabile, A Restless Wave, 2022, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches
Feature portrait of Precious Opara and Soumya Netrabile by Eugenia Pavlenko, © She CURAtes The Residency