Artist-in-residence at UCL Chemistry

Camila is investigating the artistic aspect of growing crystals, building on her interest in the links between art and chemistry, particularly the process of entropy - the degree of randomness involved in chemical reactions. She hopes to exhibit a sculpture and photography at the end of her three months in London at the gallery Gasworks where she is concurrently holding a residency.

The sculpture will be an artistic departure for Camila; her work to date encompasses photography, film and drawing, and includes experimentation with smoke and fumes. Following a masters at Goldsmiths in 2003, she has exhibited in numerous venues in the UK, Europe, Latin America and the US, and currently has two shows running in her hometown Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Camila's path to UCL started when she won a British Council 'Artist Links' prize. This enabled her to approach Arts Catalysts, an organisation that promotes collaboration between the arts and science, which put her in touch with Dr Andrea Sella of UCL Chemistry.

"It is wonderful to be here. Everyone at the Turner Laboratory has been interested in what I am doing and happy to explain processes to me. I also hope to meet and exchange ideas with artists at the UCL Slade School of Art," Camila said.

"I am fascinated by crystals as they are the opposite of working with smoke in terms of entropy; they are perfect and organised structures that take on a life of their own. In that way, it is like developing photographs with chemicals, which is where I started 14 years ago. This experience, like my BA in History, brings new dimensions to my work."

To find out more, follow the links at the bottom of this article.

Image 1: From Camila Sposati's series 'Rescue Smoke'
Image 2: The artist in UCL Chemistry's Turner Laboratory

• Links:
• Camila Sposati at Gasworks
• Dr Andrea Sella
• Arts Catalyst