On first view, it could seem that the imagery presented is dissonant to, or out of step with, the sensibilities of the 2020s. But this piece seeks to question the history we were taught. - Giles Panting, 2026

Giles Panting, Fray 2026, Cotton fabrics. Collection of the artist.

Giles Panting draws imagery using stitch, fabric and a sewing machine. He learned these skills during his childhood in Britain, and after emigrating to Aotearoa New Zealand, continued to sew.

Fray builds on ideas he had previously explored around the historical status symbol of European lace collars as signifiers of high rank. Panting invokes heraldic symbols as if they are embedded in lace design and in doing so, suggests fraying narratives of empire and power. He notes:

We were taught about people who had amassed wealth and power, not how they went about doing this. The history we learned at school in the 1900s is being challenged and our understanding of our individual and collective pasts, and histories, continues to evolve.

As with his earlier work in 2023, Panting abstracts certain decorative aspects of old lace patterns, stitching white cotton onto black cotton.

Lace, a symbol of exclusivity, wealth, and power, evolved from techniques including embroidery, braiding, and cutwork, and was often produced by low-paid workers for elite consumption.