Residency in Mérida
Printmaking Residency and Exhibition in Mexico, November 2025.
The art residency at Casa Framboyán was established in 2023 with the mission of creating a fertile environment for artists to explore their practice and engage with their surroundings. This proved true during my time there. I spent three weeks working alongside master printmakers and apprentices at Casa Lo'ol, located minutes from the residency house. I fully immersed myself in a daily routine: early mornings in the studio at Casa Framboyán, then walking across to the print workshop where, with technical guidance, I worked on copper plate etchings - a medium I hadn't worked with since art school. I found etching extremely engaging; processes that relate to the way I paint surprised me, an experimental approach I hadn’t expected.
The work schedule was intensive and I found inspiration in my daily walk through the local area. Mérida is where artistic traditions merge with contemporary culture, its creative identity drawn from ancient Mayan heritage, Spanish colonial legacy, and Mexico's vibrant modern culture. The sometimes faded grandeur of colonial architecture - pastel-coloured facades and ornate old haciendas - meets a modern love affair with concrete and bold geometric forms. The house itself, Casa Framboyán, is a neo-Mayan functionalist house built in 1967 in Mérida's emblematic Itzimná neighbourhood. Built around a central courtyard garden, it features characteristic corbel arches (distinctive inward-angling Mayan doorways with their triangular, inverted-V profile) and houses artworks made by previous residents of the program.
Contemporary architecture also reflects the influence of Luis Barragán, Mexico's most celebrated 20th-century architect. His signature style combined stark geometric forms with walls painted in saturated pinks, yellows, and ochres, emphasizing light, shadow, and water as sculptural elements that transform simple courtyards into profound sensory experiences. I took direct inspiration from Barragán’s incredible use of colour when deciding on two-colour combinations for the final editions. And of course the lush flora and sense of nature’s abundance in every inch of the city was a great inspiration. On the first day I sat and drew what was directly in front of me, a ‘telefone’ plant, it’s massive tendrils solidly fixed to the mosquito netting on the tall windows at the workshop… this became the basis for one of the final etchings.
I visited one of the many ancient sites that the Yucatán is known for. Just north of Mérida lies Dzibilchaltún, one of the region’s longest-inhabited Mayan sites with over 3,000 years of continuous occupation. To walk around the temples and experience this site in near solitude was absolutely wonderful. There is a deep connection to the Mayan influence that still runs through the region's craft traditions, from huipil embroidery to hammock weaving… and many contemporary Mexican artists are engaged with this heritage.
The residency coincided with an exhibition at Lux Perpetua, the gallery connected to Casa Lo'ol and Casa Framboyán. Housed in a striking Art Deco building, Lux Perpetua is a major presence in Mérida's thriving contemporary art scene. The exhibition, a beautifully curated show featuring fourteen female and mainly Mexican artists, was impressive and I was honoured to have four paintings included. See previous News post ‘Intersections’ for more about the exhibition.
I would like to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who made my stay in Mérdia so enjoyable. It was a real privilege to be invited to the residency and spend time working with everyone there. For further information about the residency at Casa Framboyán, follow the link here. There are additional images, films and links to the other artists on my Instagram.
The print editions are coming soon! Please register your interest in purchasing here.
