New installation Curved Twist takes over the Saatchi Gallery

Today, London’s Saatchi Gallery will be taken over by Curved Twist, an immersive new installation by London-based RCA graduates designer Kia Utzon-Frank and textile artist Fay McCaul for Collect Open, the international art fair for contemporary objects from the Arts Council.

Curved Twist takes the shape of a colour-changing screen running to more than 3 metres long and 2.5 metres high. The mechanism behind the is Utzon Frank’s Louver Twisting Comb™, also known as the KUFtwist, a cordless shutter system built from adjustable slats which can be opened and closed to generate rainbow-coloured patterns in light and shadow made possible by way of Fay’s reactive materials.

Curved Twist is crafted from 42 Italian cotton ribbons, each of which contains 484 laser-cut acrylic rods covered in light-reactive dichroic film and placed by hand into purpose-knitted pockets. In total, Fay had the mammoth task of knitting 121,968 rows and pockets for 20,328 rods by hand.

Kia Utzon-Frank and Fay McCaul said of the work: “we both seek to forge a unique path by creating work that has integral lighting effects and interacts with the viewer. We want the audience to become involved with the piece and the play of light and pattern that will reflect throughout the space.”

Curved Twist will be at the Saatchi Gallery 2–6 February 2017.