A rectangular piece of dark stone featuring a pattern of small, carved shapes resembling leaves or hands. The design is arranged in a grid, with varying spacing between the shapes, set against a rough, textured surface.
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Andi Walker: Wrapped in Cold Hard Comfort

Spring 2026 Outdoors

About Andi Walker: Wrapped in Cold Hard Comfort

Leeds-based artist Andi Walker presents Wrapped in Cold Hard Comfort, a new outdoor sculpture to be revealed in the spring. 

Taking the form of an articulated slate quilt draped over a chaise longue, the sculpture challenges assumptions around softness, pliability, and domesticity traditionally associated with textiles. By working with slate as their material, Walker emphasises contrasting qualities of weight, hardness and discomfort. The physical act of stitching into its resistant surface is a metaphor for resilience, mirroring the daily persistence required by those living with chronic illness, disability, or adversity. As the work weathers and elements of it gradually disintegrate, it also reflects on permanence in outdoor sculpture.

Walker first worked at YSP in 2022, creating the participatory project Stitched Stories as part of the group exhibition On Queer Ground, and then displayed the resulting quilt in 2023. This sculpture marks a pivotal development in Walker’s practice, moving from its foundations in textiles into sculptural form, the work expands their visual language through new materials and processes. Wrapped in Cold Hard Comfort is made possible by an Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant. 

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