A delicate line drawing of a rose at the entrance to Igshaan Adams’ exhibition at Chelsea’s Hill Art Foundation introduces intertwined themes of the beautiful and sacred in the South African artist’s show of intricately crafted textiles. In the main gallery, a huge rose in full bloom dominates the room, subtle in its light tones but impactful with its large size. Made by Adams and the community of makers he employs to weave textiles, beads and various tiny materials into one shaped fabric, the rose is at once a collective effort and a personal statement of spiritual devotion. Adams explains that for him, weaving puts him in the same mental state as prayer and the rose is symbolic of spiritual awakening, an emblem of the future waiting to be discovered. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 20th).
