Opening: Saturday, August 9 | 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
On view: Saturdays and Sundays 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM on August 9 & 10, 16 &17, 23 & 24, 30 & 31
Weekday visits by appointment (email info@residencyunlimited.org)
Location: RU House at Colonels Row, Building #404B on Governors Island (map)
Ferry information | Video directions
Please join us for the third edition of the “Living Room Portfolio” combining works by RU resident artists, current and alumni, with LuLu Meng, Tamar Nissim, Lin Qiqing, Asia Sztencel, Nia Imani Winslow, and Ibtisam Tasnim Zaman. The exhibition is curated by Data Chigholashvili, Curator of Residency Unlimited.
“Living Room Portfolio” is conceived as an experimental exhibition format that reflects on residencies and incorporates the open studio format. It takes place at the RU House on Governors Island, where artists have studios, as well as exhibitions and other events take place, creating possibilities for meetings, discovering the works of international artists, and learning about art scenes in different parts of the world. The living rooms of this previously residential house are now often used as exhibition spaces, while artists’ studios are in various other parts of the building. In this experimental format, ateliers extend through the exhibition spaces, and selected materials of RU resident and alumni artists are showcased in former living room areas. On selected days, some of the participating artists will also be the hosts in the space – while their works will be on display in the exhibition, visitors will have opportunities to view more works by the artists, their portfolios, which will unfold throughout the house and create possibilities for engagement and discussions.
Don’t miss the opportunity to visit the house with exhibition hosts on select days:
- August 9 – Data Chigholashvili, curatorial walk-through available all day
- August 10 – Asia Sztencel
- August 16 – Tamar Nissim
- August 17 – Lin Qiqing
- August 23 – LuLu Meng and Lin Qiqing
- August 31 – Asia Sztencel
Concurrently to their participation in the group show, “Living Room Portfolio III”, Asia Sztencel and Lin Qiqing are also leading workshops as indicated below:
Sunday August 10, 2025 | 1:00 PM
Join Brooklyn-based Polish-American social practice artist Asia Sztencel (2017, 2020-2021 RU alum) for an intimate, participatory workshop exploring the emotional landscapes of immigrant memory through the lens of soap operas and telenovelas.
In this workshop, participants are invited to bring the title of a show their mother watched, a telenovela their grandmother loved, or a series they themselves remember fondly. These titles and stories will be used as source material for a communal memory painting by the artist, incorporating landscapes and scenes that connect personal history with shared experience.
RSVP required. More details and registration link can be found here.
Tapestry Weaving on a Small Loom
Saturday August 23, 2025 | 1:00 – 3:00pm
In this workshop led by Lin Qiqing (2024 NYCBAR/RU alum), participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of frame loom weaving in a supportive, hands-on environment. Designed for beginners, the session offers a welcoming entry point into the practice of weaving.
Participants will work with a range of fibers—including wool, cotton, linen, and fabric yarn—and explore foundational techniques such as plain weave, striping, and free-form imagery. Each participant will create a small woven piece, such as a bookmark, coaster, or wall hanging.
All tools and materials are provided, and no prior experience is necessary.
RSVP required. More details and registration link can be found here.
Short bios of artists:
LuLu Meng works across media to explore the interplay between the individual and the collective in contemporary society. Having emigrated to the USA over a decade ago, LuLu, a queer artist from Taiwan, brings with them a background in chemical engineering, costume design, and event management. Employing everyday materials, digital components, clothing, drawings, and photographs, they create durational installations that invite interaction and reflection. Their concept-based practice delves into the quotidian to better understand the complexities of interpersonal relationships in the virtual and physical worlds.
Tamar Nissim explores political power dynamics, ethnic and gender identity, personal and collective memory, family relationships, and the impact of traumatic events on women and children from a feminist perspective. Through video art, performance, photography, and installations, she brings to light hidden narratives, amplifying the traumas experienced by women and children in times of war and migration. Her long-term research is based on historical archives, academic research, interviews, testimonies, periodical photographs, and graphic materials. Recently, she has been working on a project that delves into the history of immigrant women who worked in NYC sweatshops at the beginning of the 20th century, and were taking part in the women’s and workers’ rights movements.
Lin Qiqing (pronounced Chi-Ching) is a textile artist based in New York City. As a former award-winning journalist from China, she tells stories about human relationships, gender, immigration, and language through her distinctive figurative weaving, using hand-spun paper yarn and paper collage. Qiqing has participated in the NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program (2025) and residencies at Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild (2024), Residency Unlimited (2024), and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (2023). Her work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Wassaic Project, New York Live Arts, Art Gotham Gallery, All Street Gallery, Surface Design Association, and New York Textile Month.
Asia Sztencel is a first-generation Polish immigrant, Brooklyn-based artist. Sztencel is inspired by the role of the artist in the community, emphasizing sensitivity and a respectful approach. Through conceptual practice and traditional craft, her work offers a personal exploration within the larger narrative of the immigration experience. Highlighting landscape as a narrative, dissecting the feelings of exile, recall, and longing.
Nia Imani Winslow, originally from Washington, DC, is a self-taught mixed media collage artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Nia draws inspiration from artists including Romare Bearden, Kerry James Marshall, Faith Ringgold, and Jacob Lawrence to illustrate the colorful essences of Black figures in each of her compositions. Using paper as her preferred material, Nia combines the complexities of different textures, cuttings and clippings to illuminate figures, moods and stories. Through her artistry, Nia fuses her passion for style and her chosen medium to create works that highlight separate, but sometimes similar Black existences.
Ibtisam Tasnim Zaman is an interdisciplinary artist based in NYC originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her practice consists of painting, sculpture, writing and community building. She is currently a resident at Governors Island through RU focusing on installation. She also has an upcoming solo exhibition in Basel, Switzerland this August. This workshop speaks to the complexities of how the artist perceives the world around her as an international being, and methodology for approaching her art practice.
RU is grateful for the partnership with Governors Island Arts.
