Quandamooka artist Megan Cope’s hanging tapestry Whispers Wall 2023 (illustrated) welcomes you to the exhibition ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 7 October 2024. The work is an evolution of an installation to reimagine the architectural framework of the Sydney Opera House for its 50th birthday celebrations. Cope’s sculptural installation makes reference to the ancestral middens that were built from the accumulated shell waste of Australia’s First Nations people over thousands of years.
Whispers Wall suggests monumental underwater architecture that has been transplanted to the Gallery from the ocean. Now standing on Kurilpa Point the work connects shared narratives and kinships to the saltwater world.
DELVE DEEPER: Journey through ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’
Watch | Time-lapse of Megan Cope’s ‘Whispers Wall’ installation
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses
29 Jun – 7 Oct
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In creating the Diploria coat (illustrated) that connects with Whispers Wall, Iris van Herpen took inspiration from the coral species Diploria labyrinthiformis, also known as brain coral, due to the resemblance of its folds to grey matter, the outermost layer of the human brain. Typically found in shades of yellow, tan or grey, Diploria supports a diversity of marine life by being a foundational, reef-building coral responsible for creating biodiverse and rich environments for many other reef species to thrive.
From the ‘Escapism’ collection, the silvery-grey coat is asymmetric, with one half recalling a coral outcrop, while the other suggests sunlight playfully catching the ocean waves above, and also references hanging behind, the oyster shell mantle of hard calcium carbonate with the smoothness of its pearlescent interior. To create the lustrous sheen of the fabric, metal yarns have been woven with black silk thread in opposite directions, the hand-pleated fabric then draped and stitched to form a shimmering garment of two complementary textures.
Iris van Herpen ‘Diploria’ coat 2011
‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ is at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Brisbane from 29 June to 7 October, across the ground floor in The Fairfax Gallery (1.1), Gallery 1.2, and the Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery (1.3).
The exhibition is co-organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and QAGOMA, Brisbane, based on an original exhibition designed by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
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