Gözde İlkin: Those Who Remember Their Births

A new textile installation by Gözde İlkin, transforming vintage bedsheets into wave-like sculptural forms inspired by the St Ives coastline.

This Tate St Ives commission by Istanbul-based artist Gözde İlkin explores the stories and memories held within textiles. Vintage family bedsheets are transformed using batik and wire into flowing, wave-like sculptural forms inspired by the West Cornwall coastline. Developed during a residency at Porthmeor Studios, the work features embroidered motifs drawn from archival photographs alongside contributions from local women, celebrating the lives, labour and communities that have shaped St Ives across generations. The installation invites visitors to consider connections between people, place and the natural world through themes of belonging, care and collective memory.