In collaboration with Rise Art, House of Hulda hosted the painter Henry Ward as an artist in residence.

Rise Art and House of Hulda welcomed Henry Ward to the first in an ongoing residency partnership, inviting a departure from the familiar parameters of his kitchen, shed and studio environs to observe how his practice might evolve.

During his residency in Andøya, Norway, Ward embraced the uncertainty of this shift. Long drawn to residencies for their capacity to unsettle habitual processes, he found the landscape, with its vast horizons and ethereal light, quietly imprinting itself on the works he began there.

While his approach remained instinctive and largely unchanged at the outset, subtle variations began to emerge as the Vesterålen environment slowly edged in.

Rise Art shines a light on today's most dynamic and culturally significant artists, collaborating directly with a curated roster of emerging, mid-career, and established creatives worldwide.

House of Hulda is a registered non-profit organisation aiming to provide artists with much needed space and time to develop their practice and find inspiration. All proceeds go towards upkeep, development and growth of the home-and-studio space they occupy in the small village of Stave, Andøya.

Photography courtesy of Mariell Lind Hansen, co-founder of House of Hulda.

In Conversation: Henry Ward

How did your instinctive, process-led approach adapt in a new and unfamiliar environment?

I began in a familiar mode, approaching the work much as I would in my studio or shed, without any conscious intention to alter my process. Yet, in retrospect, certain differences emerged – small deviations that seem to have been prompted by context and atmospheric registers rather than decision.

What role did solitude, or isolation, play during the residency?

It was both significant and generative. There’s an initial period of adjustment, but once that passed, the absence of everyday distraction became invaluable. It allowed for a slower, more sustained engagement with thought.

Did the residency generate ideas or methods you might bring back into your teaching or mentoring?

Perhaps less in terms of teaching directly, but it has prompted a great deal of reflection and writing. Since returning, that impulse to write has continued to expand alongside the work.