Pattern Portraits

06/08/2020 - 01/11/2020

It's art in the sky in Coal Drops Yard. See Lauren Godfrey's flag installation

Visit Coal Drops Yard this month and you’ll see the Pattern Portraits by Lauren Godfrey – an installation of 120 patterned flags stretching between the iconic roofs of Coal Drops Yard.

The colourful installation was created during lockdown, with Godfrey connecting with young people in Kings Cross via virtual workshops. The artist worked with BA Textiles students from Central Saint Martins and STORE Store, a Coal Drops Yard-based initiative that helps local young people into applied creative arts.

Students were asked to take patterned fabrics and items of their own clothing and combine them to create abstract forms, and to then capture the result as a still life: an exercise in observation, abstraction and colour application. Godfrey took these drawings and distilled them into bold and arresting shapes and colours.

The resulting designs have been transformed into the series of large-scale flags that now create a giant quilt in the sky. The flags serve as a celebration of the significance of pattern, but also act as portrait of the individuals involved and, in turn, of the area itself.