Igshaan Adams

A new exhibition by South African artist Igshaan Adams, featuring his cross-disciplinary work that encompasses weaving, sculpture and installation.

Born in Bonteheuwel, a former segregated township in Cape Town, Adams draws upon his experience to explore race, religion and sexuality in his intensely crafted work. He literally weaves together influences from his childhood memories, networks of familial relationships and politically charged spaces shaped by violence and generational trauma, using, among other materials, beads, seashells, gemstones and glass to intricately map his past.

His beautiful and densely worked textiles and tapestries bring together cultural and religious references with objects that have been present throughout his life. Adams says: ‘I’m interested in the personal stories recorded on the surface. What is recorded is not necessarily always a factual account but can be what is imagined – a combination of myth-making and meaning-making.’