‘When people ask me where I’m from, I never know how to answer. Born in El Salvador, growing up illegally in California then spending my adult life in the UK. What does that question mean and why do people ask it?’

Studio Lenca photographed by Marc Hibbert (c) 2022

Studio Lenca is the working name of artist Jose Campos – ‘Studio’ referring to a space for experimentation and constantly shifting place; ‘Lenca’ referring to the name of the artists ancestors from El Salvador.
Jose Campos was born in La Paz, El Salvador and like many had to flee the country during its violent civil war during the late 1980s. He travelled to the US by land, illegally with his mother and grew up in the gaze of a strictly conservative administration - an ‘illegal alien’. Studio Lenca is focused on ideas surrounding difference, knowledge and visibility. He works with performance, video, painting and sculpture.

Studio Lenca photographed by Sarah Bates (c) 2022

"Esta fregado 2" 2022
Kitchen "mantel" scrubbed with cleaning chemicals
176x140cm