Afnic has hosted Leila Garfield at its head office since 28 September 2026. Over a six-month period, the photographer and weaver will be the artist-in-residence at Afnic thanks to an initiative run by the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines metropolitan area authority[1]. She will be exploring materials and images in new ways, transforming them through weaving.
Hi Leila Garfield. Tell us a bit about yourself and your career.
LG: I was born in Paris. After studying cinema at Paris-Sorbonne University then photography and graphic design at the Berlin University of the Arts, I travelled to the end of the world and the end of the street, and amassed a vast collection of images and visual notes.
Since 2009, I have kept a creative blog, a sort of laboratory of images and words: www.leilagarfield.tumblr.com. I capture the reality and poetry of everyday life.
In 2019, I expanded my art into weaving, drawing and ceramics, with a particular focus on materials and movements, and how an image is transformed into an object. I’m constantly reinventing myself and allowing my artistic work to take new directions.
Since 2021, I have been training in art-therapy, a practice that feeds into my reflection on creation as a vector for connection and sharing.
My work has been presented as part of numerous exhibitions both in France and abroad, notably in Paris, Berlin and Porto. I have also published several books and limited-edition photographic reproductions.
What made you choose artist’s residencies as a means of expression?
I chose to enrich my artistic practice as part of a series of creative and research residencies which allow me to delve deeper into my focus on image, materials and places.
I also enjoy teaching and sharing my passion for creation in all its forms. Residencies are often ideal moments for exchanges and questioning. They help me to evolve.
Creative residencies are truly unique in that they allow you to take the time to search, share and create.
What initial synergies have you discovered between Afnic and your art?
This residency is an opportunity to discover the world of tech, which is new to me. I think that the ideas I had before the residency will begin to change over these weeks at Afnic. For now, I plan to draw in the different spaces in order to familiarise myself with the site and the work culture, and to weave materials. I usually work a lot with recycled materials, so my challenge will be to find what I can recycle at Afnic.
About Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines metropolitan area authority
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines is a public inter-municipal cooperation establishment serving 12 municipalities and their inhabitants (population of 230,000).
Based at the heart of the Paris-Saclay research and business cluster, France’s very own Silicon Valley, “SQY” is at the forefront of technology and science thanks to its higher education establishments, its research centres and its cutting-edge businesses, especially in the digital sector, a major driver of growth and employment.
Supported by Saint-Quentin-en Yvelines’s cultural and economic development departments, the artist-in-residence programme for companies is a pioneering and innovative initiative.
It allows companies to host an artist for a minimum period of 21 days to allow them to create, experiment and exchange with their teams, with 50% of the costs funded by SQY.
[1] https://saint-quentin-en-yvelines.fr/vivre-ici/culture/actions-culturelles/art-en-entreprise/
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