Gele.
Stanley Picker Gallery has curated a series of new art installations for Kingston University Town House Library by leading contemporary practitioners associated with the University.
Gele is a wall based piece fusing together traditional craft techniques from both Nigeria and Britain. The piece takes its name from West African head-dresses which are traditionally sculpted with pleats and folds by hand.
The work is made from Nigerian cotton pleated in England. Nigeria and the UK are aligned through their shared history and same sense of ‘local’ time. The wall-based textiles are designed to hang like clock faces fixed at two moments in times.
The embroidery motifs for Gele were directly inspired by the architecture of Town House, designed by RIBA 2020 Gold Medal winners Grafton Architects, and the hand stitching references a garment held in the Benenden School of Costume Collection & Fashion Archive at Kingston School of Art.
Material: Nigerian Cotton dyed in True Indigo fixed to Brass
