artist in officina
Artist Residency
Ekaterina Shcherbakova
Ekaterina Shcherbakova
Carey Mortimer
Ekaterina Shcherbakova
Paul Gregory and Tessa Singleton have lived for many years in the small Tuscan village of Montefollonico. "We love art and over time have built a small collection of paintings, sculpture and photographs by artists from around the world. In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of the challenges facing small villages like ours – depopulation, new technology and climate change. In the light of these and other considerations, each year we would like to offer an internationally renowned artist, a temporary residency in this beautiful part of Italy giving them the opportunity to develop their own creativity in an appropriate environment. With the help and support of Professor Margareth Dorigatti , we have repurposed the Officina, which used to be the blacksmith’s workshop in Montefollonico, as a lving and working space for use by the resident artist. This is the artistinofficina project."
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In 2026 we are pleased to welcome two artists - Carey Mortimer and Ekaterina Shcherbakova. Carey will install a series of frescoes in the village on the theme of " The feet that walked this earth". Taking her inspiration from the history of Montefolloico as a place of weavers, Ekaterina will create a series of textile sculptures.
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Each year interested artists are invited to submit proposals for using this residency to create new works in their particular field. There is an application form here. If you would like to be kept informed of progress on the project, please contact us via the email link shown at the foot of the page.
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Montefollonico
Montefollonico, in the comune of Torrita di Siena, is a small hilltop village dating back to the 13th century that offers spectacular views over the Val d'Orcia to the east and the Val di Chiana to the west. To the south is Monte Amiata, which as legend would have it, was the former home of the divinity Saturn who in pre-history ushered in the so-called Golden Age. Montefollonico has a lively community with a local theatre, a choir, football team and once a year, a Vin Santo festival. There is a restaurant, a bar, a pharmacy and a well stocked local supermarket.
Officina
The Officina, once the workshop of the village blacksmith, is located next to the historic centre of Montefollonico. It was converted by the Hosts into a studio apartment and workspace in 2018. It consists of an open plan living area with a well-equipped kitchen, 2 beds and a separate bathroom. The workroom at the rear (25 sq m) has a full height window, looking out onto a small, shaded patio. Sustainability was a factor during the conversion and most of the electrical power and heating are generated from solar panels on the property. Other services include high speed internet, support for video and audio presentations and a parking space.
Artist Residency
- a collaboration between Hosts and Artist
As Host we offer
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The Officina for use during the residency as both accommodation and working space
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Transport to and from the one of the local railway stations at the start and end of the residency
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An introduction to the village and the surrounding area.
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Board and lodging. We would hope that the Artist would use the local shops as far as possible to help support the village.
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Services to the property including power, water, heating and internet.
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Basic materials will be provided in agreement with the Artist.
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On-hand assistance and advice to help resolve any problems that may arise with the Officina during the stay of the Artist.
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The organisation of an exhibition of the works produced by the Artist during the residency, including invitations and a reception.
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Production of a video of the Artist's work during the residency for the exhibition and for use on social media.
2026 Program
Ekaterina Shcherbakova's starting point for a project is the history and topography of the place. The ancient name Monte a Follonica referred to the people who worked with cloth, the Fullones—“place of cloth workers,” a site for working and dyeing wool. She will focus her project on this unique aspect of the village.
She has begin by asking the inhabitants of Montefollonico to give her textile items they no longer use. These may be tablecloths, kitchen towels, clothes, bed linen, or other fabrics. Bringing these items together, she will create a series of mobile sculptures that serve as an archive, telling a story about the place through its local used fabrics.
A cloth item is itself an object that lives a life in direct contact with the human body. It hides it, warms it, and carries the visual story of a person. It is part of the social and emotional history of an individual, a social circle, or even a generatons. By assembling them into installations, she will weave together a collective narrative of the place.
Each person who has given an item will be asked to choose one word, as if all the other words in the world were to disappear. From these words, she will compose a text, a form of everyday-life poetry. This combined with the textile archive, will become a visual and audible representation of the living community of this small Tuscan village. It will be expressed by a performance when actors, animating the sculptures, process from the three gates of the village to an exhibition at the Church.
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Carey Mortimer's residency will explore the intertwined relationships between human presence, geological time, and ecological renewal in the Tuscan landscape. The project begins with the premise that every step taken across the earth inscribes a trace—cultural, physical, and spiritual—linking the human body to the mineral and vegetal life that forms the land’s living memory. The title evokes both ancestry and continuity: the feet that once walked here, that shaped paths and pilgrim routes, are part of the same cycle of sunlight, mineral, and water that sustains new growth today.
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The work will engage with Tuscany’s material and symbolic layers: its ruderal and pioneer plants that colonize roadsides and ruins; its geology rich in mineral pigments; and its fresco traditions that fuse earth and water into enduring surfaces. By using pigments collected from local Tuscan soils and rocks, echoing ancient Etruscan and Renaissance fresco techniques, the project reconnects artistic practice with the elemental foundations of the landscape. The fresco medium’s mineral solidity embodies a temporal depth and permanence that contrasts with the transient nature of human movement and ecological succession.
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The project reimagines discarded solar panels as contemporary fresco and etched silver leaf surfaces; objects that once captured sunlight, now re-purposed as art works. Images of feet, traced and reinterpreted from historical frescoes across Tuscan, etched silhouettes of local wayside plants; these plants are the first to return after disturbance, symbolizing resilience and regeneration; they are nature’s pilgrims, following the same routes as humans, sustained by the same light.
Etching plants into silver leaf references both sanctity and reflection—the sacred shimmer of iconography meeting the mirrored fragility of the modern world. Through a series of panels, the project creates a timeline of transformation: from mineral to pigment, from footstep to root, from sacred image to renewable material. In this synthesis of earth, body, and technology, “The Feet That Walked This Land” becomes an offering to continuity—the sacred persistence of life across time and form.
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