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The Gathering

Halima Cassell

Photo Credit: Scott Merrylees

INTRODUCTION

The Gathering is a hand-carved concrete installation, with each of the five pieces representing a figure. It is both a group coming together and a meeting place. The number five has great spiritual and personal significance for Halima, as it frequently recurs in her life such as representing her family of five, which includes the child she lost. The number five also carries deep meaning within the sciences, religions and in Numerology. It represents a desire to explore, which we encourage you to do with her work.

Halima’s distinctive style comprises of deeply carved, complex patterns, which draw inspiration from geometry found in nature, architectural surroundings and her heritage. She says ‘with all materials there are different possibilities and limitations which impact what you are able to do with the final sculpture. With concrete I am able to be more spontaneous and abstract.’

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THE SCULPTURE TRAIL

The Wakefield district is one of Yorkshire’s leading cultural destinations. The city is known especially for sculpture, being the birthplace of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. It is the only city outside London to have two Art Fund Museums of the Year: The Hepworth Wakefield and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

The Gathering is part of a series of sculptures for the city, commissioned in 2023. The series offers a unique opportunity for everyone to experience and enjoy world-class art. Each artist has created a work especially for the place, its history and communities.

Wakefield Sculpture Trail

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Halima Cassell (b. 1975) was born in Pakistan and raised in Lancashire. Cassells varied, multi-cultural background and interest in Islamic art, design and architecture is tangibly present in her work. Cassell’s distinctive style integrates bold forms with an infinite variety of deeply carved, complex patterns. Combining strong geometric elements with architectural principles, Cassell’s work incorporates recurrent patterns inspired by the geometry and symmetry found in nature, her surroundings and from her own heritage.

Barbara Hepworth, who was born and educated in Wakefield, is a great inspiration for me through her monumental work and her personal life, as a working mother in an era of a male-dominated society. I can relate to this through the cultural aspects of my background. I spent time during 2007-8 researching in her home and studio in St Ives and reflecting on how she shares her passion for the Yorkshire landscape and nature in her works.

HALIMA CASSELL

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