Kira Freije

The first major solo exhibition of Kira Freije’s (b. 1985, London) work in the UK.

For the exhibition, Freije will create a new body of work comprising around 20 life-size figures which will be arranged in small groupings affecting a society in various states of action. The groupings suggest narrative fragments, or interior states of mind and evoke a time and place, without specifically referencing a history or geography.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to walk amongst the figures, sensing the emotionally charged space which will be enhanced through atmospheric lighting design and hand-blown glass lamps created by Freije. To create her figures, Freije casts her own hands and feet in aluminium, building her metal sculptures from the feet upwards, welding together stainless steel strips like a pencil outline to create their forms. To these, Freije adds faces, or parts of faces, cast from people who are important in her life, as well as fabric and found materials such as brass and copper to complete the materially-rich whole.

The production of the newly commissioned work for The Hepworth Wakefield has been generously supported by the Foundation Foundation.