hand knitted wool, knitting needles
Pillars of fire and rage is a series of five hand knitted, hanging sculptures. Each knitted sculpture is given form by a circular knitting needle, which still holds the unfinished stitches. The knitting could potentially be continued... or unravelled. Have a look at my MA Fine Art Research website for some of my reflections on what I call my sloppy knitting, the making of these sculptures and my take on deliberately sloppy craft.
I started knitting these sculptures for an exhibition called 'Incendiary' in 2019 which was protesting the building of a new waste incinerator in Gloucestershire. Knitting as activism?
One Pillar of fire, as a wall based piece, was selected for the RWA Sculpture Open in 2019. I wonder whether that's the first knitted sculpture to be installed at the RWA?
All five sculptures were finally installed at Pound Arts, Corsham for the second iteration, 'Incendiary 2' in early March 2020. Sadly, the opening of the exhibition was delayed by several months, due to the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. It finally opened in July 2020.
Here's a walkthrough video of the installation:
As part of my process of making, I installed four of the Pillars of fire in a tree in Ashton Court, Bristol on a cold, bright day in January 2019. I love watching the moving, living sculptures, animated by the wind...