London-based artist LR Vandy has opened her first solo museum exhibition, "Rise," at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The show features a series of sculptures crafted from nautical materials like Manila rope, ship's helms, and hull-shaped wooden forms, many of which were created in her studio at the Chatham Historic Dockyard. The works explore the complex intersections of maritime history, trade, and the labor systems that powered the Age of Discovery.
This exhibition is significant for its material-based critique of colonial legacies and the transatlantic slave trade. By repurposing everyday maritime objects into forms that evoke both the trauma of transportation and the resilience of cultural rituals like dance, Vandy highlights the hidden human costs embedded in global economic systems. The show marks a major milestone in the artist's career while contributing to contemporary dialogues regarding the decolonization of maritime history.