The Radar: Claudia Martignetti, Karlīna Mežecka and Ada Bond

Claudia Martignetti

Claudia Martignetti is a London-based sculptor and a recent MA Sculpture graduate from the Royal College of Art. Her practice explores ideas about the cute, uncanny and monstrous, often through the body, transformation and pop culture.

Age: 23

Location: London, UK

Last dream you had: I was Buffy the Vampire Slayer but for worms

Favourite exhibition: ‘Cute’ at Somerset House, because someone decided to put Mike Kelley, Yung Lean and Animal Crossing in the same exhibition

Favourite object you own: My vintage Mr Blobby coin-operated kiddie ride

Favourite art world Instagram account: @legbootlegit

Favourite movie: But I’m a Cheerleader and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Both for the same reasons

Favourite artwork: Hot Dog by Paul McCarthy, 1974. Anything by McCarthy that involves him and condiments does it for me

Loves: Lidl, Teletubbies, the colour green

Hates: Men on the tube, wasps, philately

End-of-year goals: Live, laugh, love

Karlīna Mežecka

Karlīna Mežecka is a Latvian artist from Riga, living and working in London, UK. Working across ceramics, glass and metal, Mežecka’s interdisciplinary practice challenges traditional uses of these materials through installations and sculptural pieces. At the core of her practice is an exploration of emotional fragility, memory and the body. Using ceramics and glass to explore vulnerability and resilience, Mežecka emphasises imperfections and the beauty of repair, drawing inspiration from various craft techniques and implementing them in experimental ways.

Age: 29

Location: London, UK

Last dream you had: I was using Polyfilla to fill lots of gaping holes and cracks in some kind of wall-mounted object. It felt chaotic, but also very satisfying (I was watching furniture restoration videos before bed)

Favourite exhibition: The latest one that comes to mind is Cristiano Di Martino and Oscar Chan Yik Long at St. Chads Projects

Favourite object you own: A little bronze caltrop by Daan Gielis

Favourite art world Instagram account: @crisis.acting – not necessarily art world, but what they post is art

Favourite movie: Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders

Favourite artwork: Nature Study by Louise Bourgeois, 1984

Loves: A dewy, misty summer morning and a good rave

Hates: Confusion

End-of-year goals: To finally make something out of leather

Ada Bond

Ada Bond is a London-based artist and is currently studying BA in Fine Art: Painting at The Slade School of Fine Art. An obsessive collector of moments, memories and images sourced from dark crevices of both the internet and her mind, Bond creates intrinsically cryptic pieces designed to keep more secrets than they divulge. She commonly finds herself tracing unique patterns between images initially found impulsively, sparking threads that she spins into an all-consuming web.

Age: 22

Location: London

Last dream you had: Being stuck inside a sardine tin is one that still haunts me

Favourite exhibition: M&M World in Leicester Square. A profound commentary on capitalism and a feast for all the senses

Favourite object you own: “You will own nothing and be happy”… but also I ❤️ things. I’m particularly attached to an ugly little porcelain lady in bed ashtray

Favourite art world Instagram account: @sovietlust

Favourite movie: Under the Skin by Jonathan Glazer

Favourite artwork: Fantasy from the Cinema by Walter Schnackenberg, 1957

Loves: Shoplifting (just kidding ;)), surprises, the screech of the Northern Line, red fruit pastels, cats, Halloween, crooked teeth, misanthropy, holding hands, when someone asks me for directions, sulking

Hates: February, forgetting, crits, throwing things away, name dropping, toothache, mint chocolate

End-of-year goals: To have my first kiss 💋 applications open xx