Exhibition
Fragment and Form: Emii Alrai, Mónica Mays, Dominique White
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Free Entry
Free Entry
The relationship between history, myth and materiality has been a central concern throughout the evolution of sculpture.
From the enduring qualities of marble in classical depictions to the use of industrial and found materials more recently, sculptors have chosen materials not merely for their physical properties, but for their ability to deepen meaning and embody cultural, political, and spiritual narratives.
Fragment and Form will continue the dialogue between history and materiality in sculpture through the work of three contemporary artists: Emii Alrai, Mónica Mays and Dominique White.
While distinct, the work of each artist converges in the exploration of heritage, displacement and the ways in which personal and collective histories are preserved, marginalised and contested through materiality.
The notion of history being both formed and fragmented resonates throughout the exhibition, finding parity in the artists’ material choices which so often serve as a metaphor for the complexities of representing history itself.
About the artists
Emii Alrai
Emii Alrai (b.1993) is a British-Iraqi artist whose work delves into themes of heritage, nostalgia, and the colonial legacy of looted artefacts.
Through large scale sculptural installations that mimic archaeological ruins and ancient monuments, she reimagines museum objects using plaster, clay and metal. These forged artefacts are often presented as decaying and deteriorating through her material explorations of forgery.
Through these installations, Alrai critically examines museum curation and the romanticised ways histories are told and displayed.
Mónica Mays
Mónica Mays (b.1990) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of cultural identity, memory and materiality, often through the lens of domestic objects and everyday rituals.
Drawing on her own heritage, Mays creates sculptures, installations and assemblages that blend organic materials with found objects, evoking a sense of fragmented history and personal mythology. Her work reflects on the histories of colonialism, labour and migration, imbuing humble, familiar items with layers of cultural significance and memory.
By merging craft traditions with conceptual strategies, Mays invites viewers to reconsider the roles of material culture and forgotten narratives in shaping contemporary identity.
Dominique White
Dominique White (b.1993) is a British artist whose sculpture and installation work explores diaspora, Black identity and Afrofuturism.
Drawing on myth, history and speculative fiction, she creates sculptures resembling remnants of a sunken world, using materials such as rope, metal, palm fronds and shells. Typically weathered or corroded, her materials mirror tools of the nation-state, symbolising resilience as well as the deterioration of systems of power.
White’s work speaks to abolitionist ideals, linking the destruction of oppressive systems to new possibilities. Her sculptures reference the Middle Passage, bridging themes of survival, rebirth and shifting identities, while harnessing a concern for materiality to symbolise both decay and transformation, ultimately pointing to a reimagined, liberated future.
Getting here
Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH
United Kingdom
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
