ARtists
Olga Ermol Port
Natalia Sly
Taïs Bean
David Motta
James Daniel – DBA: Prop Drop n’ Roll aka Snacks?
Nicholas Von Christierson
Olga Ermol Port
“My work is like the taste of an experience you loved that lingers. I use my emotional memories of various moments to create something tangible, coincidently giving life to new moments and falling in love again.”
Based between Lisbon and Florence, with roots in Ukraine, OLGA ERMOL is a fibre artist creating bold, abstract thread compositions. Having a mixed background in oil painting, graphic design, interior design and sculpture, it was her discovery of fibre as a medium that ignited a new passion and path in her creative work. The depth she had been searching for in colour, the balance between precision and spontaneity, it all came together through thread.
Her work is deeply tied to experience. Some pieces come from moments of exhilaration, others from quiet reflection, but they all stem from a need to capture something raw and real. Patterns, movement, and bold compositions are strongly influenced by mid century architecture and the rich colour palettes of Latin countries. Ermol has exhibited in Florence, Italy, and Lisbon, Portugal. Her work has been commissioned and collected internationally, with pieces in Los Angeles, New York, Milan, and London. She studied Graphic Design at Winchester School of Art (UK), earned a Master’s in Sustainable Thinking from Goldsmiths (UK), and pursued Interior Design at Scuola Politecnica di Design (IT).
Natalia sly
Taking inspiration from the inexhaustible patterns of variation and repetitive but rarely exact forms in nature, to the straight lines and right angles of architecture, to color as it relates to both tangible natural material as well as mercurial emotional reverberations, Sly’s work flattens and layers the complexities of the world around her, capturing its tensions within the lines of her work and fibers of the paper.
Her works are direct, intense and vibrant. They capture you as a group, compelling you to skip from one to another, finding similarities and differences, searching for connections, until you slow into an acknowledgment that each is a singular declaration within the greater collection.
“Originally from London, I was brought up in Argentina where I ran an art gallery (SlyZmud) before moving to Portugal. On moving to Europe I explored work as a creative director, creating cohesive visual worlds for clients with projects that include hotels and restaurants across the continent.
Color, form and space have always been central to the way in which I operate with the world, whether for clients or within my personal space.
Since 2023 I have been now focusing on painting and working on my own from my studio in Lisbon. I continue to take on some interior projects where I can express my creative vision, working with color and space. “
“Architecture, color and light are very important pillars in the way I relate to my paintings.”
James Daniel –
DBA: Prop Drop n’ Roll aka Snacks?
James Daniel is a multidisciplinary artist with a fine arts background in painting. Over the past three decades, their diverse creative journey has spanned set design, foam carving, miniatures, prop-making, and styling, alongside unexpected ventures into organic farming, baking, and working in some of the world’s top restaurants—including Tartine in San Francisco and Chef Dan Barber’s Blue Hill in New York.
Born in Kentucky and raised in South Carolina, James developed an early passion for art and making things, eventually honing their skills at the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Their work has been featured on the Food Network and in numerous editorials, with collaborations spanning a wide range of artists and musicians. Notable highlights include working with Meriem Bennani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, building sets and props for Green Day, and serving as an on-set master carpenter helper for a season of Making It with Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler.
With a distinctive approach to concept design and execution, James thrives on creative problem-solving, embracing the philosophy that there are no mistakes—only opportunities for growth, pivots, and new ideas.
Under the moniker Snacks?, they create pieces that aim to capture and express a fleeting feeling, whether through painting, immersive spaces, or large-scale installations. Their work is deeply influenced by fashion, architecture, food, music, nature, relationism, the occult, perception, and identity—as well as their love for chairs and admiration for artists like Julie Mehretu, Matthew Ritchie, and Awilda Sterling-Duprey.
Now based in Lisbon, Portugal, James is setting up a new studio within Stamika Collective in Marvila. Formerly known as Prop Drop n’ Roll in Los Angeles, where they worked for nearly a decade in television, fashion, and advertising, they are now focused on painting and installation, re-establishing a full-time studio practice while selectively taking on fabrication and design clients. With a renewed emphasis on creative consulting and artistic collaborations, James continues to push boundaries, challenge perspectives, and engage audiences in thought-provoking ways.
David Motta
David Motta is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Lisbon.
David studied Fine Arts in Communication in New York (via EFAP L'École des Métiers de la communication at NYIT). He began his professional experience in 2006 at American Vogue, simultaneously working for PR Consulting and their clients Balenciaga, Narciso Rodriguez, Pierre Hardy, Proenza Schouler, amongst others.
David Motta works as an art director, costume designer, creative consultant, fashion stylist, producing art projects, editorials, and multiple features for various publications. David works in collaboration with other artists, brands, and private clients.
The celebration of his unique body of work led to several invites to share his knowledge through courses, workshops and academic institutions.
A selection of clients/collaborators and features:
AnOther, Arts Council England, Bullett Magazine, Centre Pompidou, Christian Louboutin, Daphne Guinness, Dazed & Confused, Diane Pernet - A Shaded View on Fashion Film, Elle, Flaunt Magazine, Foam Photography Museum, Harper's Bazaar UK, i-D Online, Interview Magazine, London Fashion Week, M&C Saatchi, Madonna, Madonna and Steven Klein Art for Freedom Project, Mert & Marcus, National Trust, Pam Hogg, PAPER Magazine, Patrick Wolf, Perou, Poppy Delevingne, Schön Magazine, Serpentine Gallery, Tatler UK, Thai Airways, Thames & Hudson, them., Today Art Museum (Beijing), New York Fashion Week, Topman, V Magazine, Vision Magazine (China), Vogue Italia, Vogue Portugal, Vogue UK.
Taïs Bean
“If there were gods to bow to today, gods who would have created us in their image and who would hold the fragility, blessings and purpose of our existence in their fiercely creative hands, I believe those gods would be our natural ecosystems.”
In the face of the various social, philosophical and ecological crisis, Taïs sees one of the role of the artist as the one reminding us of the creative potency of our hearts and the crucial necessity to explore and reinvent our connection with Wilderness, one another, and ourselves.
Her work investigates themes such as the transient and cyclical nature of life and death, psychological transformation, transmutation and metamorphosis, decay and birth, the never ending dance between harmony and chaos, the transformative function of rites of passage, and connection to otherness through vulnerability, loss, and care. Her practice is informed by her continued investigation into the psychological function of mythology and symbols, alchemy and esoteric texts, art therapy, ecology and system theory.
Taïs is a French multidisciplinary artist and musician working across Europe.
She has graduated from Central Saint Martins with a BA Fine Arts (Hons) in 2015. Since then, she's been on various art residencies and has exhibited in London, Milano, Paris, Berlin, Marrakech…
After her Art degree at Central Saint Martins, Taïs has continued to enrich her art practice and has studied Herbalism and Storytelling at Emerson College, Curatorial Studies and Art and Ecology with the Node Center, and Jungian Psychology with the Dublin Jung Center.
While developing her individual art practice, Taïs has also worked on collaborative socially and ecologically engaged projects. Between 2016 and 2019, she worked on the collaborative curatorial project Mint Works based in Marrakech ( Marrakech Biennale 2016, COP21 Marrakech, 1-54 African art fair 2017 London, GHOST programme London 2018). Between 2015 and 2020, she was the creative director of Sibenik Hub for Ecology, now called Terra Meera, in Dalmatia, Croatia, focusing on ecological regenerative practices and human potential.