Skip to main content

Out & About: Annie Morris Studio Visit


Annie Morris shares a studio with her husband Idris Khan in Stoke Newington. Annie’s colourful ‘Stacks’ have long been on our wish-list, so we jumped at the opportunity to pop over and meet the artists.

Annie is a British artist who makes tapestries, paintings and sculpture, drawing inspiration from her own life experiences. Her stack sculptures are shaped from plaster and sand. These are then painted with raw pigment. She started making these as a reaction to the grief of losing a child, in the hope of re-balancing her life. The balls represent fragility as well as power.

The iconic ‘Flower Headed Woman’ was a reaction to a difficult time in her life during her parents’ divorce – you can find this striking image in most of her work.

I particularly like her metal grid wall sculptures with hanging stitch work. The extreme contrast of the hard metal grid against the soft flowing fabrics is dramatic.

Annie’s tapestry work is designed to remind us of chalk paintings that have been scribbled on a blackboard, when in actual fact these are hand stitched panels which have taken months to create.

Like a goldfish, Annie has certainly grown to fit her environment as her ‘Stacks’ burst through the vaulted ceiling.

Meanwhile next door, her husband Idris’ work is exploding onto the streets of London. In October, his work entitled ‘65,000 Photographs’ was installed at the new public plaza of One Blackfriars. It was the artist’s first public permanent artwork in the UK. Idris urges us to pause and reflect on the nature of passing time. Looking through his phone Idris found a total of 65,000 photographs – ‘our obsession with taking photographs has removed us from the here and now.’ The final piece measured eight meters tall so it will be hard not to stop and wonder.

Back to top
Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse our site you are agreeing to our cookie policy.