Hands-on is pleased to present “Residue”, the final residency exhibition showcasing works by Ana Benavides, Jingshan Ding, Farnaz Gholami, Seongeun Lee, and Regina Thorres Thompson, curated by Senem Cagla Bilgin-Keys. Situated within a domestic space, Residue brings the works into an intimate field of dialogue. The pieces, which recontextualise the ordinary elements of domestic life, invite us to rethink boundaries, modes of belonging and the possibilities of living together. In this context, Residue refers not only to what remains, but to the traces left behind by shared experiences, encounters and lived time. As the exhibition interrogates notions of safety, familiarity and coexistence, it displaces the idea of home from a fixed place into a continuously reconfigured relational space. Residue will be on display at A Space Residence from 02 to 05 July 2026 and will continue online until 09 August 2026. RESIDUE 02 - 05 July 2026 Thursday to Sunday 11am - 6pm OPENING NIGHT Thursday 02 July 6pm - 9pm A Space Residence 237 Caledonian Road London, N1 1ED RSVP: [email protected]

As part of my research of Hands-on residency, I have been reading the Netratantra, its a Śaiva tantric text composed around the ninth century. What I really find fascinating about this text is how the mapping of cosmological structures onto the body provides a framework through which practitioners understand themselves and their place in the world. Chapter 7 (sūkṣmadhyāna) describes the body (divyadeha) as a network of subtle centres, channels and divine powers. Through these structures, the body of the practitioner is presented as the site in which cosmological and divine forces are made present and accessible. These descriptions shape how the body (and the world) is understood and experienced within a particular tradition. What I have been questioning is how different understandings of the body shape the way we relate to ourselves and others. If the body is conceived not as an isolated entity but as something fundamentally connected to larger networks of forces, what possibilities does this open for thinking about connection today? How can we create bodies that are more connected to one another?

The Amṛtasiddhi, the earliest haṭhayoga text, presents the body as a microcosm of the cosmos, a model that is later incorporated and reworked across the haṭhayoga corpus. Its opening chapters describe the essential constituents of the body and the aspects to be mastered, including the central channel (madhyamā), the moon, sun, fire, bindu, mind, rajas and guṇa. Within this account, the body contains the elements of the cosmos: Mount Meru, the worlds, sacred sites, deities, planets, rivers and the elements. The body thus becomes a complete cosmological map in which geographic and sacred elements coexist. These descriptions are not merely symbolic representations of the body but also shape how the body is experienced within a particular tradition. The mapping of cosmological structures onto the body provides a framework through which practitioners understand and experience the world. . Here you will see a bit of my process as part of the @handson.projects residency. I am experimenting with different combinations of oxides, I like the depth they create. This is an unexplored territory for my practice. Lets see where it takes me.

This new body of work begins with the study of different conceptions of the body found in tantric and haṭhayoga traditions. I will be working closely with Sanskrit primary texts from the 9th to the 13th century, tracing how different traditions imagine the body in relation to the cosmos. The tantric body is understood as a microcosm of the cosmos, i.e. everything that is in the universe is inside the body. I’m curious to see how these ideas shift once they move through the material. 🌪️