LONDON.- Lacey Law and Kanto Ohara Maeda will be the next two artists to occupy Soane’s historic Drawing Office at the central London Museum dedicated to his legacy.

Supported by Jerwood Foundation, Sir John Soane’s Museum in London is delighted to announce that the 2026 Jerwood Artists in Residence are Kanto Ohara Maeda (b.1998) as the Summer Resident and Lacey Law (b.1992) as the Autumn Resident.

Law and Maeda will follow last year’s inaugural Jerwood Artists in Residence - Simon Farid and Mohammed Qasim Asfaq - who took up their roles working in the atmospheric Drawing Office, within the heart of the Museum. It is the earliest surviving example of a working architectural office, having been originally installed in Sir John Soane’s home in Lincoln’s Inn Fields over 200 years ago, in 1823.

The residency programme, first launched in 2023 following restoration works to Soane’s Drawing Office, was renamed last year in recognition of Jerwood Foundation’s generous three-year support, with this second year of funding continuing to enable the programme’s development.

Each year two artists whose work engages deeply with drawing as a conceptual, material, or procedural foundation, are hosted at the Museum for three months. The Drawing Office offers a unique environment for the two artists to explore the past, present, and future of drawing as a critical and experimental practice. During their respective terms, Law and Maeda will be developing new work in response to the context of the historic spaces and the wider legacy of Sir John Soane’s Museum.
Norwich-based tattoo artist and woodblock printmaker, Lacey Law is a lifelong devotee of drawing and hand crafts. Renowned for her elaborate compositions on skin and paper, Law’s work explores the relentless human desire for beauty in our surroundings, and the compulsion for decorating the spaces we inhabit – including our own bodies. Blending traditional printmaking with contemporary tattooing, she creates detailed woodcut- and etching-style pieces with fine linework, featuring bold contrast, and strong texture.

Born in Japan, raised in East Sussex and now London-based, Kanto Ohara Maeda is a multidisciplinary artist and animator, whose practice is founded in drawing. He studied architecture in Edinburgh and animation at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. Maeda often centres architectural spaces as his main characters that determine the atmosphere of his work, deriving a place of slowness and composition.

Bridging fine art, animation, and architecture, Maeda’s work focuses heavily on ambient spaces, slowness, and rich environmental narratives, seeking to depict ordinary human life as poetic stories. His latest film, Poco a Poco, was made with coffee grounds and is based on the theme of memory. Kanto won Best New Media at the Architecture Film Festival London 2021, alongside Uwais Hafizal, for their film, Humanitas Ex Machina. He has also exhibited at shows including the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, where he received the Working Drawing Award.

Will Gompertz, Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum, says: "We are delighted to be welcoming another two wonderfully talented artists this year. They have very different practices, but their work is united by a deep appreciation of Sir John Soane’s Museum. We look forward to seeing what new conversations, interpretations and possibilities will emerge through their work in Soane’s Drawing Office.

The generous support from Jerwood Foundation enables us to continue a sustained dialogue between contemporary practice and the collection, highlighting the continued relevance of the Museum to artists working today.

We extend our sincere thanks to the 2026 Residency Selection Committee for their insight, care and expertise throughout the selection process: Michael Landy, Erin McKellar, Muyiwa Oki and Zoé Whitley.”

Lara Wardle, Executive Director and Trustee of Jerwood Foundation says: “Our ongoing partnership with Sir John Soane’s Museum underlines Jerwood’s commitment to supporting excellence in the arts in the UK. The Jerwood Artist in Residence Programme offers a unique opportunity to artists to enable them to develop their drawing practice within the exceptional and inspiring setting of Sir John Soane’s Museum and its historic Drawing Office.”