Saelia Aparicio Spain, b. 1982

Saelia Aparicio was born in 1982 in Ávila, Spain, and lives and works in London, UK. She completed her MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2015, a period that grounded her in the material and conceptual possibilities of three-dimensional practice. From early in her career, Aparicio developed a distinctive approach rooted in speculative world-building, drawing on folklore, feminist theory, science fiction, and ecological thought to examine the conditions under which bodies, both human and non-human, exist and resist.

At the core of Saelia Aparicio's practice is a sustained inquiry into hybridity and transformation. Her works conjure chimeric figures that resist fixed categories of gender, species, and form, referencing archetypes such as the sphinx, Anubis, and the Mayan Camazotz. Through sculpture, large-scale mural drawing, and installation, she constructs ecosystems of characters and situations that refuse a single reading. The philosopher Mark Fisher's concept of capitalist realism provides a key theoretical anchor, with Aparicio asking how human openness can be preserved against oppressive forces. The Brat (2024), executed in ink and wood stain on plywood, and her anthropomorphic, genderfluid figures exemplify this approach, blending playfulness with incisive social critique.

Aparicio has received significant institutional recognition. In 2019 she was awarded Generaciones, one of the most prestigious prizes for emerging artists in Europe, organized by La Casa Encendida, Madrid. That same year, the Serpentine Galleries, London, commissioned her film Green Shoots for their General Ecology research project. In 2025, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, commissioned A Joyful Parasite, a major solo exhibition curated by Niomi Fairweather, developed in partnership with Southwark Park Galleries, London, and The Burton at Bideford, North Devon, and supported by the Henry Moore Foundation, Arts Council England, and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E). Beyond her exhibition practice, Aparicio held a leading role in the artistic program at Open School East, Margate.

Her works are held in numerous public and private collections, including the Arts Council Collection, UK; Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Spain; MUSAC Colección, León; Odunpazari Modern Museum, Turkey; Colección DKV, Spain; Colección Cervezas Alhambra, Spain; and Fundación MonteMadrid, Spain.

Her institutional exhibition history spans Europe and North America. Solo presentations include Paraíso Extraño at MUSAC, León (2022), curated by Eneas Bernal, and Bio Speculations for Expanded Cohabitation at Liste Art Fair Basel (2021). Group exhibitions include Testament at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London; From Creatures to Creators at Kunsthaus Hamburg; and the 36th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (2025). Her work also featured in Survey 2, shown at Jerwood Space, London; G39, Cardiff; and Site Gallery, Sheffield (2021 to 2022).

Saelia Aparicio has exhibited at KORNFELD Galerie Berlin, most notably in Trust Issues (March to April 2025), curated by Nina Chkareuli-Mdivani, in which her sculptures and works on panel explored vulnerability, trust, and power. With her Baltic commission touring through 2026, Aparicio's practice continues to grow in institutional reach and thematic ambition.