I’ve created a world, and it’s called Delainia,” says Delaine Le Bas, speaking ahead of the opening of her oeuvre-spanning Glasgow exhibition Delainia: 17071965 Unfolding. Working with textiles, sculpture and performance art, the British Romany artist has been making politically charged art for most of her life. “It starts with my birthdate [referenced in the title of the exhibition], but it’s still going on. I’m using the word ‘unfolding’ because one thing leads into the other,” she says. “I see my work as one whole big piece.”
Le Bas’s tapestries, drawings, videos and costumes are tethered by recurring themes and motifs, relating to racism, feminism and untold histories. Her work addresses the exclusion of Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people, incorporating graphic and linguistic symbols to comment on the historic and enduring discrimination and misrepresentation of these communities. This year, she is nominated for the Turner prize and the upcoming Glasgow show is an opportunity to see her work before the Turner nominees are showcased at London’s Tate Britain in September. In Glasgow, Le Bas will exhibit textiles and embroideries that span decades, alongside a new site-specific installation of a metal circus carriage. These pieces, old and new, form a constellation of woven, drawn, painted and sculpted fragments that resurface as part of new allegorical installations.
