Glass Sculptures
Day's sculptures explored the treatment of Black people in Britain, America and the Caribbean, particularly in relation to the history of the Transatlantic trade in enslaved African people during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
ike the glass I have pushed my approach in how I work with glass and ceramics in both traditional and experimental methods, to create contemporary artworks that represent my passion for this part of our history. As a Black glassblower, I am one of few and on a quest to find and inspire more. My main purpose, however, is to engage the audience on issues that are hard to confront on many levels, using art to help overcome some of the traumas that haunt our collective past.
Chris Day
Harewood and the Transatlantic trade in enslaved African people
The land on which Harewood House stands was bought by Henry Lascelles in 1738. Banker, merchant, Collector of Customs and eventually, plantation owner, he set out to control every aspect of the sugar trade, which systematically exploited the labour of enslaved Africans brought to the West Indies.
Profits made through the brutal exploitation of enslaved people were later used by his son, Edwin Lascelles, to build and furnish Harewood House. The Lascelles family would go on to own a total of 26 Caribbean plantations, owning thousands of enslaved individuals.
Harewood House Trust is committed to engaging in discussion and encouraging conversations about Harewood past and connections to the trade of enslaved people.
All Saints’ Church
The church offered a poignant backdrop to the subject of Chris Day’s work. The Church was one of many British institutions that profited from slavery, but also one that played a part in the Abolitionist movement.
Chris Day displayed five pieces in the exhibition – Commodity Triptych, Message in a Bottle, Strange Fruit, The Congregation, and Under the Influence.
Under the Influence is based upon the story of the rum that was found in the cellars of Harewood House in 2011.
Day was interested in the relationship between the stained glass windows of the church and those of his own glass pieces, which are both designed to tell stories, though of very different kinds. Despite the iridescent beauty of Chris Day’s mixed media art, such highly personal works are, without question, etched with brutality and suffering.
was lucky enough to visit the Church with Diane and David Lacelles and to see Chris Day’s work – in the darkness you see gleaming masses of molten glass hanging like viscera or neatly arranged as a congregation or an offering – without a trace of literalism he evokes not just the ghosts of slavery but an unnerving human presence – I think he has achieved something very profound.
Iwona Blazwic - Trustee, Harewood House Trust
In conversation with Chris Day
One bottle from 'Under the Influence' was generously gifted to Harewood House Trust by Chris Day following his exhibition. It enters the House’s permanent collection to promote and continue conversations about its links to the Transatlantic trade in enslaved people.
Engaging with the past for a fairer future
For many years, the Lascelles family and Harewood House Trust have sought to make Harewood a platform for change, through exhibitions and public events that open up conversations and bring communities together.
Bertie Robinson: The Footman from St Vincent
The Harewood Rum Story
