A key figure in post-war textile art, Polish artist Ewa Pachucka (1936–2020) began her career as a painter and printmaker before turning to fibre in the mid-1960s. Rejecting traditional methods of weaving, she instead used a crochet hook, a tool with which she created sculptural forms from basic materials such as sisal fibre, hemp yarn and jute rope. This method allowed her to work at pace, creating works that were strong yet soft and malleable – qualities that Pachucka likened to clothing and human skin. Whereas her earliest, semi-abstract textile works took inspiration from organic shapes and textures found in nature, later pieces moved towards representation with crocheted, half-formed figures such as The Open Man resembling mummified corpses or the preserved remains of those who perished in Pompeii. Suspended from the ceiling, this unnerving life-size sculpture with its wounded chest and hollow interior demonstrates the artist’s mastery of her medium.