I’m delighted to be debuting my Wind Sculpture in Dubai - it’s my first time exhibiting in the country, and I’m pleased that it’s come about by invitation from Expo 2020.
The series of outdoor sculptures began as an exploration of the idea of harnessing the wind and freezing it in a moment of time: The idea of capturing the volume of wind but to work with industrial materials normally applied to building structures to exude a sense of solidity - and I liked that paradox. I wanted to create a tension between the large abstract three-dimensional nature of a piece of fabric appearing to be blown in the wind in contrast to the media used to re-create that illusion.
More broadly speaking, conceptually they are informed by the movement of peoples via sea and trading routes and speaks of multi-cultural identity in a post-colonial world.
Both Middle Eastern and African countries have been established for thousands of years, but the concept of a nation-state is a relatively new one.
I’m looking forward to learning how audiences will respond to the work in the historical context of the UAE and its own national identity.
London, November 2021