Studio: A.O2.23

Nicolas Cheng is an artist, researcher and educator. His artistic research interests focus on posthumanism, environmental humanities, and the geopolitics of materialities. In his work, he focuses on the 'response-ability' of art practice in jewellery and crafts, and their role in a material world that is disrupted by human-caused phenomena. He intends situated practice as an immersive way of knowing that extends well beyond the studio walls: an interdependent process of becoming able to respond to specific contexts, non-visible patterns and histories, human and more-than-human others.

In his cross-class programme Contextual Practice at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, he is motivated to develop a practice-based artistic research environment and extending the theoretical and methodological fundament in relation to today’s society. He sees an urgent need for artists to better understand the context of their practice, in order to bring attention to the way their material and artistic processes affect the world (and vice-versa).

For the past 20 years, he has been living and working in London, Eindhoven, Treviso and Stockholm. He received his BA from the Design Academy Eindhoven, and shortly after he joined Fabrica Research Centre. He holds an MFA from Konstfack University and a PhD in Fine Arts, with specialisation in Jewellery and Crafts from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. His artistic research work is published under the title World Wide Workshop: The Craft of Noticing (ArtMonitor, 2019). He was one of the contributors to a critical craft anthology: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water (Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2020) and Cheongju International Craft Biennale: Craft City Lab (Beumdeuk Han Publisher, 2021). His artistic practice is interwoven with studio-based work, artistic research, collaboration work – Conversation Piece and co-curated exhibition projects. In 2020, Nicolas Cheng was one of the recipients of the inaugural Blumhardt Foundation International Residency and Dunedin School of Art Residency in Aotearoa New Zealand. His work has been exhibited at Pinakothek der Moderne; Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch; Triennale di Milano; The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD); Z33 - House for Contemporary Art; The Dowse Art Museum and Museum Arnhem, among others.