Weaving a wonderful web of magic at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Internationally acclaimed installation and performance artist Chiharu Shiota is to present an awe-inspiring new installation in Wakefield at the end of the month.

Beyond Time, an installation of woollen thread within the beautiful 18th-century Chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), will run from March 30 to September 2.

Born in Japan, the Berlin-based artist has received critical recognition worldwide for large-scale works such as The Key In The Hand (2015), an elaborate entanglement of red thread and keys, which she made when selected to represent Japan at the 56th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

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Her radical yet poetic artistic approach explores personal themes of loss and memory through intricately woven installations, referencing life, death and belonging.

At YSP, Shiota’s sweeping web of white thread emerges from a steel structure referencing a musical instrument no longer there.

Rising from the chancery, it is an ethereal composition floating towards the heavens.

Drawing from the history of the building, the work responds to and activates the Chapel’s unique heritage, revisiting and honouring architectural elements that no longer exist.

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Woven from 2,000 balls of wool, Shiota’s use of white marks a recent departure from the familiar red and black thread for which she has become known.

Characteristic of her work’s resonance with memory and human relationships, the installation interlaces the physical and conceptual to create a new visual plane.

An extraordinary and captivating experience, Beyond Time references the Chapel’s rich history and years of human presence, dating back to 1744, making poignant allusion to the bells that were rung, the songs that were sung, and the lives that revolved around it.

For more details go to www.ysp.org.uk