The Box, Plymouth acquires Tanoa Sasraku’s ‘Sleeve Front L’ (2023) from Vardaxoglou
We are pleased to announce Tanoa Sasraku’s Sleeve Front L (2023) has been acquired from Vardaxoglou by The Box, Plymouth, UK with support from the Contemporary Art Society and TIA Collection.
Tanoa Sasraku is known for her ongoing research into her personal relationship with the memories, mythologies and energy stored within the British rural and coastal landscapes.
Sleeve Front L (2023) is part of Terratypes, a series of works on paper started in 2020, which can be described as sculptural hybrids of painting, drawing, collage and printmaking. This body of work continues the artist’s exploration of British geology and topography, informed by her perspective as a lesbian artist of British-Ghanaian background.
Her working process involves laborious pattern-cutting, drawing on her Ghanaian heritage. For example, the fringed border of the Terratypes resembles the textile application of the Fante Asafo fl ags of coastal Ghana. Each of Sasraku’s Terratypes comprises several sheets of blank newsprint, which she hand-stains with million-year-old earth pigments foraged from landscapes significant to her. She then machine-stitches the stacks of paper together before soaking them in rivers, seawater and bogs. After that, the artist carefully tears away strips of paper so layers beneath become visible, revealing the materiality and memory of the land, like microchips storing data.
Sleeve Front L features minerals she gathered in 2023 from the coast of Ghana, the home country of the artist’s late father, a couturier. Infl uenced by her experience of his passing during her teenage years in the West Country, the artist fuses red iron earth pigments collected from the mining regions of both Ghana and Cornwall. Using garment patterns, she reimagines her father’s body via the tools of his craft. The results are enigmatic, ceremonial-like objects, weathered by time and rich with material history.
During her unsettled youth in Plymouth, Sasraku found solace and a sense of freedom in the windswept moorlands of nearby Dartmoor. This deep connection to the landscape aligns with The Box’s art collection, which includes works depicting the local landscape as early as 1600. Sasraku’s work also resonates with the museum’s textiles collection, reflecting Plymouth’s significant but often overlooked history as a major hub for garment in the mid 20th century. Factories such as Dents, Jaeger, Clarks and Ladybird were once integral to the city’s economy, shaping the lives of thousands of workers. Additionally, Plymouth’s status as a naval centre fostered a strong tailoring tradition. Sasraku’s practice introduces fresh contemporary perspectives to The Box’s collections. While rooted in traditional textile techniques – such as stitching and layering – her approach integrates modern infl uences, including glitch aesthetics, computer technologies and circuitry. Sleeve Front L also explores themes of family, home and connection, offering a compelling narrative that will resonate with audiences and inspire new conversations.