Welcome to my Studio

Hi, I’m Elora Kadir and welcome to my studio. I’m an artist based in London, working across installation, drawing, photography, video, and found objects. My work centres around lived experience with disability, and the subtle ways it interacts with the world around us—whether that’s through navigating buildings, dealing with forms, or the quiet tensions that arise from systems designed for able-bodied norms.

During this residency, I’m planning to explore moments of dissonance – those small, often overlooked points where body and environment don’t quite align. I’m interested in how access (or lack of it) gets embedded into the everyday, and how art can make these frictions visible. I’ll be experimenting with materials, images, and texts to reflect on these encounters. I’m also curious as to how it will feel to be a part of this virtual space and what influence that may have (if any!) on my process.

Feel free to have a look around and leave a comment or message.

Warm golden sunlight streams through a window, casting the shadow of the window frame and two potted plants onto a beige wall. The shadows are clear and rectangular, creating a peaceful, minimalist composition. Part of a bed with soft, rumpled blankets and clothes is visible at the bottom of the image, adding a lived-in, cozy atmosphere. A curtain hangs partially open to the right, revealing a sliver of the window.
Window, 2022

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More moments

A hand hangs out of the car window and is reflected in the wing mirror. The road behind doesn't look too busy.
A hand hangs out of the car window and is reflected in the wing mirror. The fingers are stretched out as if trying to reach or perhaps gently asking for attention. The road behind gets busier. There is a double decker bus and lorry approaching.
A hand hangs out of the car window and is reflected in the wing mirror. The fingers are straight but relaxed as if trying to gently asking for attention or maybe feeling a breeze. The road behind gets busier. There is a double decker bus and the lorry passes by.

Sometimes accidents can be so difficult to recreate. Sometimes in trying to recreate them, they can lead to new things. I loved the gentleness of the hand compared to all the noise and traffic in the background. Not sure if the gesture is quite what I’d like it to be yet.

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Had a little moment earlier in the week feeling the breeze on my hand while in traffic. I wanted to recreate this image or at least experiment with this idea a little more but then some barriers got in the way (broken lifts) so I’ve been stuck indoors for a couple days.

An arm hangs out a car window t on a tree-lined street In London. The car's side mirror reflects the hand feeling a gentle breeze. It is a sunny day.

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A solid medium orange color background
A solid muted coral-pink color background
A solid warm beige or tan color background

Some colours I noticed dominating previous images I have taken. I had it in my head that I wanted to use more colour in any potential new work. I wondered if some previous work could inform what those colours could be…?

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I might have got myself a little stuck in my searches. I tried a few online image libraries… trawling the many pages of the Wellcome Collection’s catalogue which I still haven’t reached the end of.

I already have examples of what I would like from some of my previous work that I have shared so I’m giving myself a reminder that the task isn’t impossible. I am considering the thought that maybe I’m already surrounded by the images I’m looking for. For example, I have a mug with this John William Waterhouse painting on it.

A 19th-century painting depicting Saint Cecilia seated in a garden, eyes closed in serene contemplation, with an open book resting on her lap. Two angels kneel before her, one playing a violin and the other holding an instrument. Behind them, a stone balustrade overlooks a harbor with ships and distant mountains. The scene is filled with lush roses and greenery, evoking a peaceful, spiritual atmosphere.
Saint Cecilia (1895) by John William Waterhouse

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Books on Drawing™️

Wanted to include some phone images I took from a book on drawing people that I found in the local library. There are loads of them on drawing people, cats, dogs, flowers, buildings… It’s all very Drawing™️.

An image of an open book. The left page shows a man's trunk sketched and his head turned to the side. The right page includes a few sketches each focusing on different sections of the trunk.

A little fascinated by the eery “perfection” of it all. Especially in this book which was full of sketches and descriptions of muscles that make up a body part and how to combine it all together on a super athletic male body. It’s quite the opposite to what I was hoping to find when I set out on this search for images. It’s almost too healthy and tense. There’s no ease.

An image of an open book. The left pag has text explaining how different parts of the head come together. The right page includes a few sketches each focusing on different aspects of a head such as the skull and different perspectives.

A page from a book showing a drawing of a shoulder with every muscle clearly highlighted.

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On the left, a vintage ad shows a woman lighting a "Metro" gas burner in a classic interior. On the right, a modern photo in a black frame depicts a hand holding a rain-soaked handrail.

I was digging through old images and enjoyed how, upon opening the image on the left, it brought up the one on the right which was buried under windows and tabs on my screen.

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Rough selection of images

A detailed black-and-white engraving of two hands preparing food. The left hand holds a spoon inside a cooking pot, stirring, while the right hand pours liquid from a small jug into the pot. The pot sits on a flat surface, and the image is captioned below: “Position of hands mixing the liaison.”
Position of hands mixing the liaison. Pouring the mixture from one saucepan into another
A traditional Japanese woodblock print depicting a person wearing a red kimono decorated with pink and white flowers and green inner layers. The figure is seated and holds a small tea bowl delicately in one hand, with their gaze directed toward it. The style is minimal yet detailed, with soft colors and fine outlines typical of ukiyo-e art.
Close up of Seated lady holding cup in one hand, leaning on other hand
Vintage black-and-white photo of a bedroom with two women at a vanity—one seated in a gown, the other standing and assisting her. Large curtained windows fill the background. Caption reads: “A Bedroom – The Show House, Telford Avenue, Streatham Hill, S.W.”

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Searching for the right images

Since my last post, I decided I wanted try and find more instructional images. I was really averse to going online and doing some simple searches as I thought they wouldn’t lead me to anything interesting so I made a plan to try out my local library. I hoped to magically be drawn to something but it didn’t quite work out like that. 

I looked through books on health and drawing but the images and illustrations were a bit too… anatomical. I found one on stretches featuring people photographed at every stage of the movement and maybe it’s that the images were too active.

I will revisit this post again tomorrow because there may be more to add after I’ve slept on it. It may be that I need to reluctantly make use of online search engines too.

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Going back in (short) time

Since the start of the residency, I’ve had these flashbacks to making in 2020. The Zooms and online uploads and sharing screens. These are all embedded in our daily lives now but the exclusivity of it in this residency really reminds me of that time. I think perhaps some clues about how to approach this month might lie in those flashbacks.

I thought back to work I had made then and thoughts I had about my practice and how it changed. There was something about being able to work entirely from my immediate surroundings (home) or my inner thoughts and memories. For my time here, I would really like to draw on that. It feels like a gentler way of working? 

I went back to some drawings from 2022 which were my quick interpretations of instructional images. I always found it tricky to explain what I liked about them or their function within my practice. Fast forward to last night and I think it finally clicked (better late than never!) that my translation of them into drawing seems to soften them and give them a tenderness which would hopefully say something about how those actions feel?

A pencil sketch divided into two panels, each depicting a person slouched in a large, cushioned armchair. In the top panel, the person sits with their legs crossed, leaning forward with their head resting on one hand, appearing tired or contemplative. In the bottom panel, the same person is reclined further back in the chair, with one leg stretched out and the other bent. Their head is tilted slightly backward, and they appear more relaxed or possibly asleep. The chair remains consistent between both panels, with simple shading to define its form.
Drawing of a recliner armchair in two different positions
A black-and-white pen sketch showing a series of repeated hand gestures between two people, arranged in a 2x4 grid across two pages. Each panel features a pair of hands interacting gently—holding, touching, or clasping forearms and wrists. The gestures convey tenderness, support, or examination, with one set of hands often initiating touch while the other remains passive. The figures wear long sleeves, and the shading is minimal, focusing on the contours and emotion in the hand movements.
Repeated drawings from an illustration of a hand massage technique from 1910s book on Massage Therapy

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