Form in Suspension: Rana Begum’s No.1367 Mesh
An interview with Rana Begum, Pallant House.
Colour, light and geometry are the constants of Rana Begum’s practice. Rather than declaring themselves loudly, they unfold through movement, reflection and time, inviting the viewer into a state of heightened awareness. For Begum, colour is never merely applied; it is experienced as something felt in the body as much as it is seen. This sensibility lies at the heart of No.1367 Mesh, her monumental installation at Pallant House Gallery, on view until April 2026.
Rana Begum, No. 1367 Mesh, suspended within the Pallant House Gallery staircase
Suspended within the gallery’s historic staircase, No.1367 Mesh introduces Begum’s signature mesh clusters, often described as ‘clouds’, into the 18th-century Queen Anne townhouse. Crafted specifically for this site, the gridded, translucent forms spill over the balustrades and drift through the central void of the staircase, responding to the building’s architecture as much as inhabiting it. As visitors ascend and descend, the work reveals itself in fragments: colour shifting, surfaces glowing, forms dissolving and reassembling with every change in viewpoint.
Rana Begum, No. 1367 Mesh at Pallant House Gallery
Begum’s practice distils spatial and visual experience into ordered form, blurring the boundaries between sculpture, painting and architecture. Drawing on both urban landscapes and the geometric language of traditional Islamic art, she uses light as a fundamental medium. At Pallant House, the vast east-facing window becomes an active collaborator, animating the mesh as natural light passes through its layered structure, transforming the work across the day.
“I’m interested in making colour feel tangible,” Begum explains, describing her desire to give colour a physical presence that heightens the interaction between tone, texture and geometry. While the installation carries a sense of exhilaration in its scale and saturation, it is also rooted in calm. For Begum, tranquillity and intensity are not opposing forces, but coexisting states.
Rana Begum, No. 1367 Mesh at Pallant House Gallery
Born in Bangladesh in 1977 and now living and working in London, Begum studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Fine Art. Through works such as No.1367 Mesh, she proposes a way of looking that extends beyond the gallery space itself — one that heightens our sensitivity to the interplay of form, colour and light as they unfold in the built and natural environment. In doing so, her work encourages a slower, more attentive mode of perception, attuned to the fleeting moments in which these elements come into balance and the everyday world reveals an unexpected clarity.
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Further Information:
Rana Begum, No. 1367 Mesh, is on view at Pallant House, Chichester, Until April 2026
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Image Credits:
Lead: Rana Begum, No. 1367 Mesh, 2024.
All further images courtesy of Pallant house. Photography: Taran Wilku.