Shaping stories at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

A Call to Dance, a maypole-like structure made with thick lengths of rope, reaches towards the skylights of the Weston Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The ropes, some wrapped in colourful ribbon, give the impression of gentle motion, of being held by invisible hands. Nearby, two spinning-top structures teeter precariously on wooden spindles and figures of twisted rope appear to dance joyfully; a closer look reveals their bindings, a stark reminder of colonialism and slavery. All form Rise, the first solo exhibition by the artist LR Vandy that examines resilience, collective movement and the legacies of trade and labour. “It’s intended as a complete, self-contained sensory experience rooted in materiality,” says Vandy.

Meanwhile, at the park’s 18th-century chapel, a sculpture of intertwined wool and horse hair, which has been stitched into mesh to form a sort of tentacle, spills from its bell tower. It’s the latest sinuous installation by Nicola Turner, who sourced some of the wool from local sheep to make the tendrils that cascade through the chapel’s window, over the balcony and into the nave. “I’ve created claws with sheep shears,” she says, “that reach towards the altar.” Visitors are invited to walk amongst it, touch it and smell the natural material. “My work has that abject quality where people want to hug it,” she says, “but are also slightly repelled.” The title, Time’s Scythe, is drawn from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12: “And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defence”, a reminder of life, death and, appropriately for its Easter opening, rebirth.

Photograph by Nicola Turner/Yorkshire Sculpture Park

For details on admission to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, visit ysp.org.uk.