Breathing Space is one artist's response to the
contemporary art space of St Mary's, a former medieval church
in York.

Take a look at the exhibition in our special 360 ° photo...

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Breathing Space is a new work commissioned by York Museums Trust with the support of the Arts Council, for its contemporary art venue, York St Mary's.

Textile artist Caroline Broadhead's exciting new installation will open to the public on 21st May in St Mary’s, a former medieval church in the centre of York which opened as the city’s newest contemporary art space last year.

Caroline Broadhead is a Reader and jeweller at Middlesex University, and has shown her work widely for the past 30 years. Her work is also displayed in public collections in the UK, Europe, Japan and Australia.

The focus at St Mary's this year is textiles, and Breathing Space is Caroline Broadhead's response to the building is this installation which alters the dimensions of the interior by creating a suspended textile “ceiling”.

More images of the exhibition
360 photos of the exhibition

Caroline explains: Breathing Space is a work made in response to York St Mary’s and its quiet and imposing atmosphere and its sense of the past.

"The aim was to make a contemporary work that would both contrast the old and the new, but also integrate with the building, a combination of ecclesiastical and secular.

"The lofty space above your head is defined by a translucent screen. This ‘ceiling’ separates upper and lower levels of the building, defining these different spaces. Viewed from the ground floor, it gives a new stratum, close to the head, reducing the space that one is accustomed to.

"The materials I have chosen are a combination of airiness and heaviness; the wadding is associated with warmth, and the lead with weight.