Sheila Hicks

A Glasgow International exhibition

Hicks is predominately known as a textile artist and has been making work for more than six decades. Influenced by her research and travels in South America, she has developed a unique sculptural vocabulary.

Her work is rooted in history and her in-depth knowledge of indigenous practices, materials and their properties. The artist’s relationship with the act of making – twisting and weaving – and the relationship between hand and material are central considerations in her practice.

Her large-scale interventions into galleries use textiles and fibres. For this exhibition, she has created a vertical thrusting mesh of twists and turns made of soft, pliable, sculptural threads tightly wound together into a dense maze or tower which takes the full height of the building. This work is equally celebratory as it is sombre and considered. Hicks juxtaposes colliding colours and textures, clashing the hand-made and seductive textile works with the steel framework of the building to create a monumental presence within the space.

Commissioned by Glasgow International and supported by Alison Jacques Gallery.

This exhibition is part of a group show at Tramway, curated by the festival Director Sarah McCrory and co-designed by artist Martin Boyce as part of the Director's Programme.