British artist LR Vandy has transformed the Weston Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park with "Rise," an exhibition of dynamic rope sculptures that climb walls, loop through pulleys, and coil across the floor. The centerpiece, "A Call to Dance," is a monumental maypole whose braided strands cascade from a metal ring. Vandy, who works from her studio at the historic Chatham Dockyard, uses maritime fibers that evoke ships, cargo, and hard labor. The sculptures appear caught mid-action, hovering between tension and release, with over 30 kilometers of rope used in the installation, much of it evolved onsite through collaboration with technicians.
The exhibition matters because it transforms industrial maritime material into a meditation on collective resistance, communal rhythm, and the tension between freedom and restriction. Vandy connects the maypole to May Day celebrations across Europe, noting how dance has historically been suppressed by authorities yet persists as a social binder. The work refuses to untangle joy from exhaustion, pressure, and history, letting them coexist in the material. "Rise" demonstrates how contemporary sculpture can engage with labor, movement, and cultural continuity through a single, tactile medium.