“Hartslane is a very accessible, friendly and flexible place to work that enables experimentation and exhibition in a vibrant and easy to reach part of London.
The unique characteristics of the building allow for interesting possibilities for combinations of art works and architectural character.
The affordability and support of the people running the space ensure artists can focus on new ideas in a relaxed and quiet environment.”
Nayan Kulkarni, artist
hARTslane was founded in 2012 and continues to be run today by Sigrun, Tisna and Cristiana.
Sigrun Sverrisdottir
[b. Iceland]
is a building & interior designer with over 20 years’ experience in extending and improving homes for families in the UK but also for designing a series of new-build homes in her hometown Reykjavik. A graduate of Kingston Polytechnic, she works mostly in London and teaches Interior Design at Kingston University.
Sigrun’s interests traverse the fields of art, design and social transformation. Her passion is the art of communicating a building’s potential through drawing, painting, photomontage or any visual means necessary. Often working with vacant, near derelict buildings, the challenge is to explore their potential through sketching, often in charcoal, the way the spaces are animated through daylight. Being part of the campaign to bring this council property into public use, her focus tends to be on the fabric of the hARTslane building, using her keen interest in sustainability and developing an eco-conscious organisation.
Tisna Westerhof
[b. Holland]
is a multi disciplinary artist, and art educator. She has a Bachelor Degree of Fine Art in Education (Amsterdam), a BA in Printmaking-Royal Academy of Art (The Hague) and a MA in Scenography-Central St Martins (London). Her art practice explores nostalgia, identity and loss of innocence through highly tactile works. While her practice is grounded in printmaking, she revels in breaking down the limitations of materials and reinventing traditional handicrafts, a powerful, personal, political and poetic tool.
Interested in people engaged in a project of self-transformation and motivated by the function of art education in society, Tisna uses her voice in ceramics, textiles, installation, painting and printmaking as well as organizing, curating and collaborating with others. All are interconnected and attempt to give voice to the underrepresented and to dream a better world, free of social injustices and intolerance.
Cristiana Bottigella
[b. Italy]
has a degree in History of Contemporary Art (Milan) and an MA in Cultural Policies (London) where she completed a dissertation on leadership and resilience of social enterprises in the cultural sector, which remains one of her main areas of interest. In 2011 she co-founded Bait al Karama, the first women-led Palestinian cookery school in the West Bank, which has brought her to spend long periods of time in the Middle East and to develop a passion for food as political and cultural resistance.
Having established and run the artists in residency at the Pistoletto Foundation in Italy for ten years, she has on ongoing interest in the social function of art and in nurturing emerging talents. She believes art can transform people’s lives and tackle inequalities of power. She loves visiting though provoking exhibitions and independent galleries and she would never miss the Venice Biennale, especially during the opening days.
Advisory Board
ANITA VAN MIL | Research Manager at St Mungo’s with background in social research and organisational development DAVID HOLLOWAY OBE | Educationalist, involved with exclusion, anthropology, arts and environment. GUY FORRESTER | Architect, Partner at BUJ Architects NIKOS AKTRIDIS | Independent curator with a background in the field of media, communications and cultural studies. SARA WILLETT | Artist, Former AGM Chair at Lewisham Art House, where she currently runs the Graduate Award Scheme SHEREENER BROWNE HUDSON | Practising barrister called to the Bar in 1996, actor and theatre producer.