Following an open call for applications, multidisciplinary artist Hugo Llanes was selected for a four-week residency that took place at Cove Park in Scotland in August 2025.
Hugo Llanes is a Mexican artist and cultural facilitator based in Reykjavík. Exploring political and social issues through artistic research and a wide range of media – including installation, performance, and expanded painting – his work examines themes such as migration and adaptation, belonging, power dynamics, and post-colonial identity.
Reflecting on his residency experience, Hugo says:
During my stay at Cove Park for the NAARCA Residency, I embarked on an experimental and preparatory journey, one that was unforgettable and full of surprises.
I explored materials that have passed through generations (wool, natural pigments, and language), whose cultural and economic significance has shaped the histories of Scotland, Iceland, and Mexico. Working with these materials kept me in a continuous loop of reflection, particularly around themes of adaptation, communication, and belonging. I observed how, through certain shared elements, societies that are geographically distant and culturally distinct, each with its own language, habits, and histories, can still mirror each other.
This period allowed me to conclude the first stage of the process towards my first solo show at the Reykjavík Art Museum. It was a stage full of wonder, playfulness, and conviviality, but also one marked by trial and error. I sketched prolifically and experimented with painting and pigment making techniques, seeking to articulate a sense of shared ground in times of separation, segregation, and fear.
I experienced Cove Park as a kind of nest, where the mountains, the loch, the berries, the frogs, and the warm-hearted people helped incubate a wiser body of work.
Alex Marrs, Senior Producer at Cove Park, says, ‘It was a delight to host Hugo here at Cove Park for research and experimentation ahead of his upcoming solo exhibition. Hugo was a generous resident, opening his studio and sharing his developing work with fellow residents and visitors. A wonderful member of our community, he often served as the social glue between our international and interdisciplinary cohorts. We are very grateful to be part of NAARCA, which provides vital funded opportunities for artists to have a genuinely unique and often transformational experience – to have the freedom to experiment with new materials and methodologies, amongst nature and away from everyday pressures, on work that is urgent and important on a global level.’
The NAARCA Residencies programme builds on NAARCA’s ongoing work since 2021, addressing the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and climate justice through the lens of the four pillars of sustainability: ecological, social, psychological, and cultural. These residencies, made possible with support from the Nordic Culture Fund, support cultural exchange, deep research and reflection, community engagement, and the creation of new work and ideas on climate action.
Photography by Tommy Ga-Ken Wa.