Weaving Modernity into Sacred Space

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A brightly coloured abstract tapestry was recently hung in the quiet nave of St David’s Church, Llangeview, Monmouthshire. Created by British artist Andrew Bick, Compendium (Tree) is a striking textile work made in collaboration with rug specialists Odabashian and Hales Gallery and was first presented in partnership with Art + Christianity. Installed within this historic 18th-century interior as part of a curated project by Jacquiline Creswell, the piece brings together geometry, symbolism and craft in a setting far removed from the conventional white-walled gallery.

Compendium (Tree) marks Bick’s first work in tapestry – a shift from his usual painted and constructed surfaces. Developed over several months, the piece translates one of his intricate abstract drawings into hand-woven wool and silk. The artist worked closely with Odabashian’s team to adapt his layered composition into textile form, introducing shimmering threadwork and subtle shifts in texture to replicate the nuances of pencil lines and translucent washes. The piece was hand-woven on a Gobelin loom in the Hubei province of China by craftswomen trained in this technique on looms imported from France in the 1970s.

The final piece, measuring just under two metres tall, balances sharp geometry with a sense of quiet movement. Blocks of colour sit above a gently gridded backdrop, lending the work a spatial tension that changes as the viewer moves. Indeed, there is a wonderful interplay between the hard-edged nature of the composition and organic elements, which the tapestry truly brings to the forefront.

The piece's structure draws on several conceptual frameworks. A sequence of tapering lines evokes the shape of a tree, echoing numerical models used by artists like Paul Klee, while Fibonacci-based proportions inform the rhythm of the forms. These underlying systems, long present in Bick’s practice, are never simply decorative. They provide visual exploration scaffolding, prompting viewers to decode and contemplate.

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The tapestry creates a compelling visual dialogue in the context of St David’s, a small rural church cared for by the Friends of Friendless Churches. Suspended high above the west door, it draws the eye upward, catching light from the windows and contrasting with the soft patina of aged wood and stone. The contrast is deliberate. While the piece introduces a bold contemporary language into the church, its handmade materiality and reflective calm feel are very much in keeping with the building’s atmosphere, which encourages contemplation.

“The process took the work in a direction I couldn’t have anticipated,” Bick notes. “Seeing it installed in such a unique space adds a layer of meaning I find deeply rewarding.”

Though the tapestry represents a new medium for Bick, its vocabulary is consistent with his broader body of work. Over the past two decades, he has explored the intersection of systems, structure and improvisation across drawing, painting, and wall-based constructions.

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His work often references early 20th-century abstraction, not as homage, but as a starting point for questioning how geometry can still be expressive, unpredictable and even poetic. The use of layering – both visual and conceptual – is central. In Compendium (Tree), this layering takes a tactile form, offering both a physical surface and a metaphorical depth.

The presentation at Llangeview was made possible through the involvement of Hales Gallery, which represents the artist and played a vital role in supporting the project. That collaboration continued until earlier this spring. Compendium (Tree) now travels to Bartha_contemporary, where it will form part of Material Syntax: Andrew Bick & Henrik Eiben, on view from 14 May to 7 June 2025.

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