Ilona Sagar

Ilona Sagar is a Lecturer in the Department of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she teaches on the Fine Art & History of Art B.A. course and co-convenes the Contemporary Art Talks public program. She is also a current resident artist at Somerset House Studios and a recipient of the Stanley Picker Arts Fellowship. Her practice spans moving-image, installation, performance, and publication, with recent exhibitions at Serpentine Gallery and forthcoming commissions with the Alvar Aalto Foundation (2024) and Seizure researchers at The University of Eastern Finland (2026).

Her academic qualifications include:

• PhD by Practice, Arts & Humanities, Royal College of Art (2024)

Through moving-image, installation, performance, and publication, Sagar's research explores the contemporary deadlock between individual and collective notions of wellbeing within the spatio-social apparatus of health. She investigates how historical archives and experiments in social-planning might help us understand and rethink these relationships. Her work instrumentalizes historical archives not as sealed past, but as current and unstable elements speaking to our present condition, examining links between language, surface, technologies and the body through mediated encounters in social, political and experiential space. A significant aspect of her practice involves cross-disciplinary dialogue generated through collaboration with art and scientific disciplines including dance, architecture and neurology.

Sagar's recent publications and exhibitions reveal a consistent focus on the intersection of art, health, and social infrastructure. Her work often engages with historical archives to address contemporary issues in wellbeing, particularly examining how bodies interact with built environments and institutional structures. There's a strong interdisciplinary thread throughout her practice, with collaborations spanning neurology, dance, and architecture. Her moving-image works like 'The Body Blow' and 'Deep Structure' demonstrate her interest in materiality and the physical manifestations of social planning, while her academic writing explores critical medical humanities and archival practices.

Her notable awards include:

• Stanley Picker Fellowship (2023)
• AHRC Research in Film Award at BAFTA HQ (2018)
• Saastamoinen Foundation project funding (2023)

Sagar maintains an active research profile with numerous collaborations across art and science disciplines. Her current projects include a solo commission with Seizure researchers at The University of Eastern Finland in partnership with Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital London (2026), demonstrating her commitment to bridging artistic practice with medical research. She has supervised students through her role as lecturer and co-convenor of the Contemporary Art Talks program at Goldsmiths, fostering critical discourse around contemporary art practice.

Sagar works closely with several institutions including Somerset House Studios (where she is a resident artist), Serpentine Gallery, and maintains collaborations with researchers at institutions like the Max Planck Institute and University of Eastern Finland. Her interdisciplinary approach necessitates working with diverse teams across artistic, scientific, and medical fields to realize her complex installations and research projects, often involving collaborative workshops and public engagement initiatives that extend beyond traditional gallery spaces.