Painter and sculptor Jan Agha joins the ACAVA Hosts: Three Counties Open Residency at Spode Works Studios.

We are pleased to welcome Jan Agha as one of three artists selected for this year’s ACAVA Hosts: Three Counties Open Residency. Jan’s residency at ACAVA Spode Works Studios in Stoke-on-Trent will continue through to 30 June, culminating in a public exhibition of new work.

Jan’s practice explores themes of identity, impulse, and intimacy through oil painting on unstretched canvas and expressive porcelain sculpture. His richly textured work navigates the space between the sacred and the irreverent—drawing on personal, spiritual, and emotional tensions to create evocative figures and symbols of his own. Using thick, gestural brushwork and a palette that reflects the rawness of feeling, Jan’s paintings act as scroll-like narratives, offering dark humour, poetic introspection, and a visceral sense of humanity.

During his residency, Jan is working from a dedicated studio within Spode Works, developing a new body of work for his upcoming solo exhibition “I am not here”.

This residency is part of ACAVA Hosts: Three Counties Open Residency, a partnership between ACAVA, Keele University, and the Three Counties Open Art Exhibition. The programme offers a month-long, fully supported residency to three artists each year, providing access to studio space, a supportive creative community, and professional development opportunities including talks, workshops, and public exhibitions.

Learn more about the programme here. Visit Jan’s website here and Instagram here.