There are moments in the life of a gallery when an idea becomes an ecosystem—when a vision crystallises not through spectacle, but through care, intimacy, and the quiet labour of making. Gallery44 and its inaugural residency, held within its restored Primrose Hill townhouse, is one such moment. Brought into being by founder Jino Murad Greenwood as a space where artists are not merely exhibited but engaged in sustained dialogue, the residency proposes a slower, more intentional model of artistic development: one rooted in domestic rhythm, reflection, and deep attention.
Artist Raya Kassisieh, the inaugural resident, encountered the house as a resonant collaborator shaping the work’s emergence. Moving between its rooms, she cut, wove, wrote, and formed—building a new body of work that sits at the threshold between stillness and transformation. Drawing from her Palestinian heritage and the phenomenological body, Kassisieh’s practice unfolds like a choreography: a sequence of gestures that carry memory, grief, and renewal into material form. The works born here — woven canvases, sculptural fibre pieces, and contemplative works on paper — reveal an artist in the midst of expansion, discovering the textures that emerge when making and living become indistinguishable.
What Gallery44 and Kassisieh achieved together extends far beyond the confines of a traditional residency. It marks the foundation of a new relational model for London’s cultural landscape—one that bridges private and public space, privileges process over immediacy, and positions artists from the MENA region within a context of care and intellectual depth. In bringing the domestic into the heart of exhibition-making, Gallery44 invites viewers to rethink where art is formed, how it is tended to, and what it means to build an environment where an artist can truly unfurl.
In this conversation with Whitewall, Jino and Raya reflect on the transformations—material, emotional, and structural — that shaped this inaugural program, and on the new ecosystem of support and experimentation emerging at Gallery44.
Raya Kassisieh on the Quiet Choreography of Domestic Making
Raya Kassisieh Portrait.
Photography by Ari Murad. Courtesy of Gallery44 and artist.
Jino Murad Greenwood Portrait. Courtesy of Gallery44.
WHITEWALL: Gallery44’s residency unfolds within a lived domestic space rather than a traditional studio. How did this blurring of home and work shape the rhythm of your conversations, your processes, and the evolution of “Stasis”?
JINO MURAD GREENWOOD: From the very beginning, I imagined Gallery44 as both an intimate sanctuary and an intellectual incubator—a space where thinking, making, and living unfold in a continuous, unforced rhythm. The townhouse’s Victorian scale, its layered textures, and the history embedded in the building all create an atmosphere that feels focused and attentive rather than performative.
Working in a domestic environment softened every aspect of the process. Conversations emerged in the most natural ways: over strong black coffee in the kitchen, on the staircase, or late at night when the house was quiet. The setting of Primrose Hill, with its long lineage of artists, writers, musicians, and cultural thinkers, added a deeper sense of continuity. You feel part of a wider creative ecosystem simply by being here, and all of that shaped the evolution of “Stasis.”
WW: The exhibition pivots around the tension between stillness and transformation. How did that duality emerge in your day-to-day exchanges—between periods of introspection, material experimentation, and shared moments of breakthrough?
RAYA KASSISIEH: My time in the residency, both domestically and professionally, widened my sense of routine and ritual and left me with clear learnings about how I work. I moved between quiet reflection and sudden bursts of making with ease because everything was within reach. The stillness of the house grounded me. It gave me the space to write, read, draw, and experiment, which allowed the work to deepen. The proximity to the studio let me respond immediately to any surge of expression. That duality of contemporary life was present each day, even within my own small universe.
Some mornings were spent sitting with my own emotional weight, letting memory and thought settle into my body before I could get out of bed, let alone touch any material. Other days I was making before my first sip of water, driven by an urgency that felt necessary. Resolve often arrived late at night in quiet moments of contemplation, as I traced branches onto canvas with thinned oils, thinking about Palestine, lineage, grief, consumption, and what it means to carry or witness multiple worlds within one body today.
In those hours, I understood that stillness and transformation are not opposites. They are parallel movements that rely on one another.
“I moved between quiet reflection and sudden bursts of making with ease,”
-Raya Kassisieh
JMG: That duality became the underlying rhythm of the residency. The house held both states beautifully. Its calm made stillness feel purposeful, and its intimacy allowed space for transformation.
Even though I was moving between London and Dubai during parts of the residency, Raya and I were in constant conversation. A lot of our exchanges happened through messages—sharing images, thoughts, and updates—and that rhythm created a steady sense of connection. There was a natural synergy between us, regardless of distance, which kept the work evolving in a fluid and responsive way.
Those quieter internal shifts are often where the most meaningful breakthroughs happen. I want Gallery44 to be a place where artists can notice these subtle changes in themselves and allow them to guide the work into new territory.
The Slow Intelligence of Care at Gallery44
Raya Kassisieh, Artist Working on “Stasis.” Photography by Ari Murad. Courtesy of Gallery44 and artist.
Raya Kassisieh, Installation view of “Stasis.” Photography by Ari Murad. Courtesy of Gallery44 and artist.
WW: Care—of material, of memory, of artistic process—seems central to both of your approaches. In what ways did care become a methodology during these two months?
RK: Care has always been central to my practice, so it shaped how I inhabited the space at Gallery44 and how I related to myself and the materials. The branches I gathered became kin, my brushes an extension of my hair, and canvas and paper a mirror. Primrose held the workings of the small universe I built within its walls.
It was also present in how Jino showed up for me — how we showed up for each other. That presence set a tone. I found a rhythm for myself and for the materials, a slow attention that let me soften into the domestic cadence of the house while still holding the urgency of preparing for a showing in weeks that felt like seconds. And I was given the space to do just that.
This wasn’t a sentimental kind of care. It was grounded, practical, embodied. Some of the works extended that ethos back home to Jordan, to the women I work with who helped develop the soft pieces presented at “Stasis.” Intention and attentiveness moved together, guiding me toward what needed tending—in the work, the space, and within myself. It wasn’t perfect. At times it meant avoidance, but I returned with softness and curiosity.
JMG: For me, care was foundational. It wasn’t only about supporting Raya but about tending to the space—the light, the atmosphere, the emotional rhythm of the residency. A home requires care, and that attentiveness inevitably becomes part of the process. When the environment is held thoughtfully, the artist can work with greater ease and honesty.
For us, that attentiveness became a way of working: slow, steady, and rooted in trust. It shaped how we spoke to one another and how the work was allowed to unfold at its own pace.
“Raya responds to material in a very instinctive way, almost choreographically,”
-Jino Murad Greenwood
WW: Raya, your practice often moves between steel, fibre, and gesture, while Jino, your mission is rooted in creating intimate, process-led environments for MENA artists. How did your respective sensibilities inform one another throughout the residency?
RK: My sensibilities come from repetition, from touch, from letting materials speak in their own timing. Jino offered me room for my process to unfold without interference. We met through our shared belief that making begins long before a material is touched. There was a mutual attentiveness—a sense that each of us was working with care toward something that needed time to reveal itself. That synergy shaped the residency more than anything.
JMG: Raya responds to material in a very instinctive way, almost choreographically, and the architecture of the house offered her both spatial and emotional prompts she had not worked with before. My role was to shape an environment where those instincts could develop freely, without pressure or expectation.
We both think architecturally—in terms of scale and the tensions at the centre of how a form occupies a room. That shared sensitivity created an organic dialogue between us and subtly shaped the atmosphere of the residency.
WW: The domestic setting carries its own emotional and architectural weight. How did the townhouse itself—its closeness, its textures, its quiet—become a collaborator in shaping the works and the exhibition’s final form?
JMG: The townhouse became an active collaborator, particularly in the creation of the woven works. During the residency, Raya began walking through Primrose Hill Park and Chalcot Square, searching for withered and deceased plants. She brought these fragments back into the studio and, late at night, traced their silhouettes by casting light onto canvas.
A key turning point came when she tore those canvases apart. That rupture mirrored the uncertainty she was navigating internally — questions around what should be exposed and what should remain protected. When she began weaving the torn strips back together, the works developed a powerful duality between concealment and exposure, fragility and strength, structure and disorder. They became a physical expression of a complex emotional state.
The house played a central role in this process. The southwest-facing garden fills the space with gentle, shifting afternoon light — the kind of light that softens thought and encourages quieter observation. Combined with the intimacy of the rooms and the stillness of Primrose Hill, it created the psychological space needed for vulnerability and experimentation to coexist. These works could only have emerged here.
RK: The house really held me during my time there. Its quietness in the early and late hours settled my nervous system and allowed a deep internal listening. It was interesting to make in a place built long before our time but renovated to beautifully fit our own. I tend to make in situ, responding to what surrounds me, and here I responded to both the space and its interior—designed so thoughtfully by Jino.
The house became another vessel for me, carrying the work forward, influencing scale, tone, and emotion. It became another body in the dialogue.
What Comes Next for Gallery44
Raya Kassisieh Portrait.
Photography by Ari Murad. Courtesy of Gallery44 and artist.
Raya Kassisieh and Jino Murad Greenwood. Courtesy of Gallery44 and artist.
WW: This inaugural residency carries symbolic significance—for Gallery44 and its identity and for the visibility of emerging MENA artists in London. What does it mean for you to present its first iteration together?
RK: It feels like a tender responsibility. To begin anything is fragile, and I am grateful that my practice can stand as the first marker for what this residency will offer artists from our region. It has been an honour to be alongside Jino in this beginning. This time held a lot for me. The patronage itself was profound, and being part of shaping a home for MENA voices in London felt like a real privilege.
Presenting this first iteration with Jino carries weight. It feels rooted in trust and shared belief, and in a commitment to building a future that holds space for nuanced vulnerability and ambition.
JMG: Beginning with Raya felt deeply aligned with the spirit of Gallery44. Her approach to materials is direct, instinctive, and deeply considered. There is a clarity in how she works, and a straightforward relationship with her process that feels honest and grounded. What you see in the work genuinely reflects how it is made, and that openness felt essential for the first chapter of this programme.
Launching this initiative within a historically rich Victorian townhouse, in a neighbourhood with such a strong creative lineage, felt meaningful. Primrose Hill has long been home to artists and thinkers, and placing emerging MENA voices within that continuity matters. I hope this residency becomes a place where meaningful shifts take place — a moment an artist can look back on and recognise that something quietly important began here.
“I want the residency to remain a space for genuine expansion,”
-Jino Murad Greenwood
WW: Looking back, what conversations, gestures, or turning points most deeply shaped the body of work that became “Stasis”—and how do you hope this inaugural residency will guide the future ecosystem you are building at Gallery44?
RK: The turning points were woven throughout my time at Gallery44. In many ways, they began before the residency — from my very first meeting with Jino, where there was an immediate familiarity. Once I took residence, the moments gathered quickly: the first sketch in the living room, the first page I turned in my journal, the first Plath line, the first strip of tape on the moulding in the gallery. With each small act, I settled more into the space. I realised the house was imprinting itself on the cadence of my making.
My conversations with Jino—about collective grief and about how I was making—helped me hold the work honestly. “Stasis” emerged from a dynamic stillness, with surges of making and quiet hours of facing myself. It was an active, transformative stillness.
I believe this residency—and Jino—will continue to offer that spaciousness. And Gallery44 will become a place where artists can turn inward and make from depth.
JMG: Looking ahead, I want the residency to remain a space for genuine expansion—somewhere artists can slow down, tune into their instincts, and encounter new aspects of their own practice. A place where change happens naturally through the combination of time, dialogue, and environment.
“Stasis” marks the beginning of an ecosystem for Gallery44 that is rooted in care, curiosity, and the belief that a home can be where an artist’s next chapter truly begins.
