Ria Pazarlis-Stiles

Fine Art Postgraduate Researcher

Supervisors: Dr Fiona Anderson (Fine Art) and Dr Gareth Longstaff (MCH)

I am a PhD student researching art and queer domesticity in 1970s–80s Provincetown, Massachusetts, and its ties to the Downtown New York art scene. My project is funded by AHRC via the Northern Bridge Consortium. I split my time between Glasgow and Newcastle. 

This project unites research on queer domesticity, materiality, memory, and AIDS to examine the art colony of Provincetown, Massachusetts, in the 1970s and 80s. It focuses on snapshot photography and experimental film by Downtown New York artists holidaying in Provincetown (Nan Goldin, Peter Hujar, Mark Morrisroe, and Tseng Kwong Chi), disrupting ideas of the Downtown scene as purely ‘synonymous with [...] sex, drugs, rock and roll’ (Taylor, 2006). In examining work reminiscent of family photo albums or holiday souvenirs, the project will introduce narratives of queer domesticity and AIDS care, offering new perspectives to the Downtown scene. 

I enjoy sewing, walking in nature, and spending time by the sea. Baking and good food are passions, especially paired with a great cup of coffee. I’m inspired by interior design and love travelling to discover new places, cultures, and flavours.

• MA History of Art, The Courtauld Institute of Art (High Distinction) 2022-2023
• Dissertation titled ‘From Downtown to Provincetown: Queer Art and Community Making in America's Oldest Art Colony’
• The Paule Vézelay Prize for Outstanding Work in Modern and Contemporary Art, awarded to the modern/contemporary art dissertation with the highest academic score

• BA History of Art, University of East Anglia (First Class Honours) 2013-2016

• Dissertation titled ‘The Iconography of The Street: Romare Bearden and the Art of Collage’
• UEA Excellence Award 2015-16 and 2014-2015, awarded for achieving the highest academic score in my school of study

  International Council of Museums (ICOM) member

  University and College Union (UCU) member

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