Anne-Cécile Surga

1987, Foix (France)

I am submitting my application to the residency at the Centro Internazionale di Scultura because I would like to develop a new series of artworks and I need a specific setting to begin this new project. I want to state that I am interested in three months stay residency from May to July 2023.This new series of work will be made both of marble carving and welding. I am not equipped to pursue this new research in my atelier in France, so I need the right space to develop this idea. Secondly, I develop each series based on a specific marble. My Reactivation series is based on Carrara marble, while the Our Skins series is made only out of pink Portuguese marble. The Black Holes series is made from Izaourt black marbles that I can find in the Pyreneans Mountains. For the new series I want to develop, I need a clear whitish marble. I believe the Peccia marble is very appropriate for this project. Hence, I am not interested in having a one-time only residency in Peccia, but I am looking forward to creating a long-term relationship with the quarry and the area. Also, the experience of the pandemic was quite beneficial for my artistic research. The fact of been “secluded” for months in my studio and of running out of Carrara marble, allowed me to expand in new artistic directions. I was very happy I had this ability to move out of my comfort zone during that “time away from normal time”. I am looking for a residency in a natural environment, where I could find again this breath of artistic freedom, away from the constraints of artistic production for galleries that I am experiencing right now. Finally, I am very much interested in this residency because it is specific for sculpture. In the past I did one residency in Carrara that was specialized in marble sculpture, and I learnt so much there. An important aspect as well is the opportunity to meet and discuss with other sculptors. From my experience, we all work alone in our studio and we do not really have opportunities to meet in real life. I think it is important to forge camaraderie and to foment discussions to shape the concepts of the sculptures of the future.