Laura Lulika
Based in Leeds, UK, Laura Lulika is an artist whose experiences of being a disabled queer neurodivergent and working-class parent shapes their creative practice. When released from periods of being bed/house-bound, Lulika can usually be found sat on their stoop or gardening in their front yard, developing their medicinal garden, often surrounded by several curious neighbourhood kids.
Tracing wiggly lines from ancient to contemporary storytelling methods is the main thread of interest that runs through all of Lulika’s experiments. Speculative narratives grow from the absurd or everyday, allowing the work to expand on lived experiences of medical mysticism, sick deities and rural counterculture.
Using whatever materials they can get their hands on, scrap, natural or digital, Lulika enjoys making from what is readily available with a conscious consideration for the environmental need for degrowth, as well as limiting material toxins for personal access reasons.
Health precarity and changing access needs have given Lulika the opportunity to shift their practice from performance to video to collective work to accessibility to sound to sculpture and it continues to evolve.
Part of Lulika’s work is to provide accessibility and EDI training, workshops, talks, auditing and access information documents in various formats for arts organisations and festivals. They are currently doing ongoing access and EDI work with Counterflows Sound Art Festival in Glasgow, Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Lumsden, Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, and local to them, East Leeds Project, where they are a trustee.
C.V 2025
Exhibitions, performances, workshops:
2024
☆ rotten rotten rotten, Peckham Levels, London
☆ Send + Receive Festival of Sound Art, Canada + online
☆ Un*natural Urges, Queenspark Glasshouse, Glasgow International Festival
☆ It’s perfect, perfect, perfect, Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bethanien, Transmediale Festival Berlin.
2023
☆ Presents, Berlin Art Week, HAU and VIVO Vancouver, Canada.
☆ Cineastra, Transmission, Glasgow.
☆ No Home Advantage, Babeworld X Leeds 2023.
2022
☆ Assembly Leicester: Access
☆ Rampa Associations: Inviting precarious perspectives, Baltic Circle Festival, Helsinki.
☆ Selected 12 videoclub at RCA London, CCA Glasgow, Fabrica Brighton, Nottingham Contemporary, G39 Cardiff and John Hansard Gallery Southampton.
☆ Send Nudis, Wysing Broadcasts, Wysing Arts Centre.
☆ Love 2 Love, EMBASSY Gallery, Edinburgh
2021
☆ Cripping the Pain, Sophiensaele, Berlin
☆ Ámà: 4 Days on Caring, Repairing and Healing, Gropius Bau, Berlin
☆ Intertwined, Vital Capacities with videoclub and FLAMIN Film London
☆ Special School, Outburst Queer Arts, London
2020
☆ The Future is Loading.. Shape Arts, Shape Open Online Exhibition
☆ Creature Bodies & Performative Personas, nGbK, Berlin
☆ BURLUNGIS, curated by COVEN Berlin at Galerie im Turm, Berlin
2019
☆ The Space Inbetween Festival with Metal Arts U.K and Sophiensaele, Berlin
☆ Hybrid Art Festival, La Juan Gallery, Madrid
☆ BALTIC Gallery, Gateshead
☆ BUZZCUT Glasgow Performance Art Festival Residency
☆ Adam Reynolds Bursary for Disabled Artists with Shape Arts, Shortlisted artists exhibition at Baltic39 Gallery, Newcastle
☆ Inflammations, Sophiensaele, Berlin.
Residencies
2022
☆ Baltic Circle Performance Art Festival, Helsinki
☆ Vital Capacities with support from FLAMIN London
2021
☆ 2 Destination Language
☆ Sound Treatment, Wysing Arts Centre
2019
☆ BUZZCUT Glasgow Performance Art Festival Club Residency
Public Talks + Panel Discussions
2025
☆ Access to Work, as part of the exhibition, Hard Graft: Work, Access and Rights, Wellcome Collection.
2022
☆ Professional Practice, Leeds Arts University.
2021
☆ Don’t Worry, I’m Sick and Poor, Babeworld & East Street Arts, Leeds.
☆ Critical Diversity, University der Kunste, Berlin, Germany.
2020
☆ How do we care? Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany.
☆ Interdependency: Floating Networks, as part of Loren Britton’s exhibition at Si:Said Gallery, Klaipeda, Lithuania.
2019
☆ Disability Art & Crip Space Time Symposium, No Limits Festival for Disability Art, HAU2, Berlin.
Bursaries + Grants
2024
☆ Arts Council England Project Grant (Under 30k) for the project, Auto-Haunt.
2023
☆ Unlimited Shortlisted Artist Grant for the project, The Trogs.
☆ a-n Artist Bursaries for the project, A Materials and Medicinal Garden.
2022
☆ The Elephant Trust grant for the project, The Trogs
☆ Arts Council England DYCP Grant for the project, The Trogs
2018
☆ Dirty Debut #1: Urine, Sophiensaele, Berlin for the project Baby Punk and DRB
Access Work
2025 Freelance Accessibility Consultant for Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, Berwick-upon-Tweed
2022 - Current East Leeds Project Trustee, focusing on EDI, accessibility and family focused activities in my local area.
2022 - Current Freelance Accessibility Consultant and EDI Working Group Member for Counterflows Festival, Glasgow.
2022 - Current Freelance Accessibility Consultant for Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden, Scottish Highlands.
2018 - 2022 Initiating member and active core working group member of the collective Sickness Affinity Group, Berlin Germany.
Helping Artists Keep Going
Axis is an artist-led charity supporting contemporary visual artists with resources, connection, and visibility.