The In Breath, The Out Breath

Eva Rothschild was commissioned to make new works as part of the new Sadler’s Wells building in East London. The building, designed by the architectural practice O’Donnell+Tuomey, was completed in 2025. Rothschild proposed a set of tapestries for the commission, to be located in the foyer and bar area. The tapestries, titled The In Breath and The Out Breath hang high on the walls of the main atrium, welcoming audiences into the space.

Situated on the left, the arches of The In Breath suggest anticipation, inviting visitors to share the communal experience within the theatre. To the right, The Out Breath conveys a sense of expanded space and an openness. In the foreground of each tapestry, ribbons of colour dance across the geometric forms, with their soft lines denoting movement and gesture.There is a long tradition of artists tapestry in public spaces and as a medium it’s richness of colour and texture is unequalled in terms of visual impact. The physical qualities of the weave enhance the environment beyond the visual by dampening harsh acoustics and bringing a sense of warmth and balance in to the architectural setting.

Rothschild worked with West Dean College, the prestigious institution for arts, design, craft and conservation, to create the tapestries. They are the largest artworks to be created on the loom at West Dean Tapestry Studio in West Sussex, and one of the only two professional tapestry studios in the UK – and the first to be created for a Theatre. The tapestries are handwoven and the dyes used were created onsite at the College, so each colour was designed specifically for these artworks.

Rothschild has a strong interest in tapestry and the ambiguous relationship between painting, sculpture and the woven surface has been key to her practice for many years. Her early works included woven paper hangings and more recently she has made resin cast rugs and circular wall pieces in which hundreds of leather strips are tied together to create a complex but complete surface in which it is difficult for the eye to understand where one colour begins and another ends. She is interested in the way that colour changes can be modulated through a surface by the addition of different elements, which she has explored in her woven leather pieces wants to acheive a greater sense of movement over a surface through addition of colour as central to any new work. Her aim is to create a series of works that are visually absorbing and multi-layered, presenting as complete coherent pieces but making explicit the complexity that is needed to approach such an idea of wholeness.

As part of her proposal the artist stated:

When the works were revealed, Rothschild said: I am so delighted to be unveiling these two new tapestries at Sadler’s Wells East. The tapestries have been made in collaboration with the weaving studio at West Dean College and were conceived specifically to relate to both the architecture and the function of the building. It has been an absolute privilege to work with Sadler’s Wells on the creation of an artwork at this amazing new location for dance in my home neighborhood of East London.

Sadler’s Wells East is a new gathering place, a location for community, movement and collaboration. Tapestries have warmed, softened and humanised our communal spaces throughout history and so, from the outset, both the function and the architecture of this new building made me certain that this would be the best artistic response to the space. The titles relate directly to our most fundamental act and the beginning of every experience we have and hold within the body.

Sadler’s Wells East is the first public building to open as part of London’s newest cultural and educational district, East Bank, where it will sit alongside BBC Music Studios, V&A East, UAL’s London College of Fashion and UCL East in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The building is a nationwide resource for dance: a space for seeing, creating, rehearsing and participating in the artform. Designed by renowned architects O’Donnell + Tuomey, Sadler’s Wells East is home to a fully flexible 550-seat auditorium, six state-of-the-art dance studios, a public performance space for free performances, a restaurant and a bar.

See a film about the work here on the Sadler’s Wells website

 
About the artist
Eva Rothschild (b. 1971 Dublin, Ireland) lives and works in London. Predominantly sculptural, yet highly conceptual, Rothschild’s work is rendered in a varied range of materials including aluminium, jesmonite, leather, wood, tiles and paper. Her work references art movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and is also informed by the aesthetics of protest and spirituality. Rothschild is concerned with the physical experience of sculpture and our relationship with objects and ways of looking. she has a materials based studio practice but also works on major public and outdoor commissions.

Eva Rothschild’s work has been the subject of institutional solo exhibitions including Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (2018), Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane (2014), Nasher Sculpture Center (2012), Hepworth Wakefield (2011), South London Gallery (2007), and Kunsthalle Zürich (2004). In 2009 she was awarded the Tate Britain annual Duveens’ commission, for which she produced Cold Corners, a vast rambling geometric sculpture that occupied the length of the neo-classical galleries. In 2019, she represented Ireland at the 58th Venice Biennale.