Studio H Canada International Artist Residencies

During her residency at Studio H Canada, Nishra Ranpura used the studio as an active laboratory. The interdisciplinary artist, researcher and creative technologist was investigating crafted machines, woven computation and embodied making.

Her research brings together traditional textile processes, physical computation, digital fabrication and participatory practice. Rather than treating weaving and technology as separate fields, Nishra brings them into conversation. She asks what can happen when body, machine and material become part of the same system of making and knowing.

A residency for experimentation

Nishra arrived at Studio H intending to develop experimental loom prototypes that foreground labour, storytelling and material intelligence. Her dedicated studio time allowed her to prototype responsive woven structures and test interactive textile systems. Using microcontrollers and electronic sensors, she also explored new relationships between body, machine and material.

The residency offered something particularly valuable for this kind of research: time to experiment without requiring a predetermined outcome. Testing, adapting, observing and following unexpected directions were part of the work.

Her practice also asks broader questions about technology. Nishra places embodied knowledge, care, repetition and the temporalities of labour alongside computation. Her work asks how technologies are made, who participates in making them and what forms of knowledge they carry.

Embodied Weaving: an intimate research exchange

Near the end of Nishra’s residency, that investigation moved from individual studio research into a small shared experiment.

Studio H hosted Embodied Weaving, an intentionally intimate Open Studio evening supporting Nishra’s exploration of weaving and interactive technology. Four guests were invited specifically for the testing, conversation and feedback. Their different practices and professional perspectives brought distinct ways of engaging with the research.

A small circle for testing and feedback

The invited group included Kegan McFadden, a curator, writer and visual artist; Dillon Lew’chuk, a visual artist, art therapist and counsellor; Samantha Samika, a somatic, performance and visual artist; and Daisy Jassar, a technology leader with a background in coding.

Lisa Rosowsky, the other artist in residence at Studio H that month, also joined the evening, along with residency host and artist Heidi Bergstrom. Lisa brought an extensive interdisciplinary practice spanning textiles, book arts, drawing and multimedia. She and Nishra are peers working with textiles, but from very different directions. Lisa’s perspective added another layer to the exchange, while Lisa and Heidi’s participation and support helped round out the group.

The small scale mattered. It created room for close attention, hands-on making and conversation. Social time over refreshments also created a relaxed atmosphere and a sense of connection among the group. Conversation could unfold naturally alongside the research exchange.

Nishra could share research still in development and observe how others encountered it. She also received responses shaped by visual art, curatorial practice, somatic and embodied practice, therapeutic work and technology.

Traditional weaving, digital technology and embodied experience met through participation rather than presentation alone. In this way, the evening became part of the research itself. Nishra could see what changed when her experiments encountered other bodies, experiences, questions and ways of knowing.

Artist-led research

Artist-led research does not always move neatly from question to finished artwork. A prototype may reveal another question. A technical test may expose something unexpected about a material. Another person’s interaction with a work can reveal possibilities that are difficult to see while working alone.

This is one of the ways a residency can support research. Dedicated time and space allow an artist to follow an inquiry deeply. Carefully chosen moments of exchange can then introduce perspectives that extend it.

For Nishra, embodied weaving was not a culminating exhibition or a requirement to demonstrate a finished result. Instead, it was a deliberately small research encounter within a much longer investigation. That inquiry connects weaving, computation, labour, technology, material intelligence and the body.

The questions continue beyond the residency, as does the making.

[Embed: Embodied Weaving | An Open Studio with Nishra Ranpura — YouTube]

About Nishra Ranpura

Nishra Ranpura is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, creative technologist and educator based between New York and Austin. She holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design at The New School and a Bachelor in Textile Design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in India.

Working across woven textiles, digital fabrication and interactive media, Nishra investigates embodied interfaces, crafted machines and material literacy. Her work centres accessible and transparent processes and the temporalities of labour, fostering dialogue around technological futures and collective knowledge.

You can learn more about Nishra on her website: https://nishraranpura.com and follow her on Instagram: @nishraranpura and see the artist profile on our website here: https://studiohcanadaresidency.ca/2026/06/25/nishra-ranpura-artist-in-residence-usa