Sheila Hicks: New Public Commission, King’s Cross
Woven Wonders is on view at Coal Drops Yard until 16 October
26 May – 16 October 2022
Woven Wonders, 2022 © Sheila Hicks; photo: Cara McCarty
A monumental new public installation by renowned artist Sheila Hicks has been unveiled today in King’s Cross, London. Titled Woven Wonders and coinciding with Hicks’s first UK museum retrospective, ‘Off Grid’, at The Hepworth Wakefield, the suspended sculpture transforms Coal Drops Yard into a poetic environment of light, shadow, colour and movement.
Hicks’s site-specific artwork directly responds to the architecture and creative context of Coal Drops Yard, which sits at the epicentre of numerous educational sites: Central Saint Martins, King’s Cross Academy and the Aga Khan Centre, amongst others. The installation sees waves of Sunbrella acrylic fabric suspended between two former coal storage buildings, drawing connecting threads between the yard’s past and present while creating a focal point for community assembly and future cultural expression.
The uniquely chosen hydrophobic material is resistant to the whims of the elements, thus creating a fadeless and timeless experience in vibrant technicolour. Working in unbroken collaboration with the changeability of nature, Hicks’s canopy provides a backdrop for a series of cultural and educational events taking place in the area throughout the Summer. The free music festival Cubitt Sessions will take place in August 2022. Spontaneous music and dance groups are encouraged to perform beneath the work.