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Chris sits on the concrete floor in the Sculpture Gallery, the large sculpture Physical Energy and a camera can be seen behind him

Chris Pavia

Artist in Residence: November 2020 - March 2021

Chris Pavia is an international touring dance artist and choreographer. He is a member of Stopgap Dance Company and works in his own right as an independent artist. Chris received Unlimited funding in 2019 to create duet ‘The Journey Between’, which toured in the UK and to The Hague in The Netherlands. Chris Pavia first partnered with Watts Gallery Trust and DAiSY in 2019 on his solo work Captain's Duties, a response to the art of Victorian artist James Henry Pullen.

During his 2020-21 residency, working remotely and across digital platforms, Chris Pavia explored the dynamics of energy and movement seen in the full and partial sculptures by G F Watts displayed at Watts Gallery. Pavia’s work is inspired by the power of natural forces such as water including film and photographic references of vivid waterfalls, turbulent seas, fast running currents and the dynamism of galloping horses.

The result of this residency period is the site-specific dance work Beyond the Waves. Originally intended to be performed live but due to the pandemic, it was made into a film, offering an alternative way to share the work with an audience. The dance solos were captured on film in May 2021, while the galleries were closed the public, in a new film work by Roswitha Chesher, first presented as an installation piece at Watts Gallery in the summer of 2022, alongside A Fragmented Legacy: G F Watts and Sculpture.

Beyond The Waves is a collaboration between choreographer Chris Pavia, Watts Gallery Trust and DAiSY (Disability Arts in Surrey) with mentoring support and dance artists from Stopgap Dance Company.

Explore Chris' work in the classroom

  • Beyond the Waves activity notes

    1.7 mb | PDF
  • Logo reads Stop Gap Dance Company
  • Logo reads 'Daisy, Disability Arts in Surrey'

Chris' residency

  • A still from Chris Pavia's Beyond the Waves
  • The dancers in Chris Pavia's Into the Waves stand in a line in the Historic Gallery in front of Francesca and Paolo
  • A visitor sits on a bench and watches the video installation
  • A dancer for Chris Pavia's Beyond the Waves dances in front of Francesca and Paolo. A crew photograph and film him in the foreground
Chris Pavia in the sculpture gallery during the filming of Beyond the Waves

Creating Beyond the Waves

In conversation with Chris Pavia

Chris Pavia: Beyond the Waves Q&A

Explore the Artist in Residence programme

  1. An oil painting of a young woman with purple hair sat on a chair next to a table, on it a laptop is balanced on top of several books, and a MacDonalds happy meal box sits next to it.
    Article

    Sarah Thien, Portrait of a Young Girl

    6 December 2022
  2. A biro drawing on pages from an old book. Two men, one in a suit and one wearing a labourers outfit, both modelled on artist Habib Hajallie, hold up a a plaque depicting a grizzled, angry lion.
    Article

    The Monochrome Medium

    21 April 2023
  3. A bronze and black artwork featuring women shapes in a circular pattern
    Article

    Mary Branson, Daughters of Theia

    1 August 2019

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