Zuvaya Studios

After Luminopolis I travelled to Lewes to visit the Zuvaya Studios. Here I saw again Emma Watkinson who was at Luminopolis with myself and Luke Brown. Also sharing the space at Zuvaya Studios was Daniel Mirante who I last saw when we all gathered at Brigid Marlin‘s house.

Zuvaya Studios is a project that Daniel Mirante co-initiated as a collaborative studio and exhibition space in a derelict industrial quater of Lewes, UK. The project aims to support the unfolding of talent in established and emerging visionary artists and to strengthen the visionary art current within the UK. Guest artists have included Luke Brown and Jarah Tree.

As all old industrial spaces used by artists, they need a lot of enthusiasm and creative energy to bring them into some sort of order. There is certainly no lacking of these required qualities amoungst the Zuvaya Studio community. Looking at their space made me think of the warehouse I had at Pixely St in London, and I reflected how fortunate they all are to have each other to assist making their space welcoming.

They found some creative solutions for some of the building’s defects, such as indoor gardens under the leaking roof. In a dryer, more comfortable section of the warehouse they have hosted a number of events and are planning many more for the future.

It was a pleasure to finally see Daniel’s artwork first hand, and I was impressed by what I saw. He has been passing on the knowledge he gained from Brigid Marlin to a number of other artists in the studios. His partner Basha has taken to the technique very well and is also very accomplished.

I also had the chance to see Daniel’s version of Sophia. We have both been painting Sophia, the gnostic aspect of God that represents wisdom, and have kept each other updated as to the progress of our individual paintings.

It was wonderful to see everyone and visit their creative space, but time was running and had to eventually leave and make my way back to London, as I was flying out the next day to return to Berlin.