The anima tapestries.

The Anima Tapestries are a suite of ten wall hangings by Paul McLachlan, exploring the space between real and imagined worlds. Developed following an Asia New Zealand Foundation residency in Bangkok and a subsequent residency in Palermo, Sicily, the series draws on Ayutthayan mural traditions, Theravada Buddhist narratives, and religious texts from both Eastern and Western cultures. The work is rooted in mythic poeticism and ritual, allowing for a dialogue between human and animal worlds, storytelling, and the archetypal imagination.

Created in collaboration with TextielLab, Tilburg, these jacquard weavings employ rubber, merino, mohair, linen, acrylic, and polyester yarns. They carry the physical weight and textural gravitas of woven materials while referencing the historical weight of European tapestry: biblical, allegorical, and mythical narratives imbued with triumph, tragedy, and human striving. Blue Lion, for example, depicts a lion attacking a man as a symbol of the tension between virtue (sila-dhamma) and our animal instincts. The jarring, glittery colours render the conflict playful and dreamlike, evoking mythic encounters such as Hercules versus the Nemean lion or Henri Rousseau’s Sleeping Gypsy in peril. The blue lion can also be read as a symbol of the British Empire and acquires malleable layers of meaning when exhibited within different contexts.

The series reflects McLachlan’s sustained engagement with the discipline of religious and narrative art, combining careful, time-intensive design with close attention to material, form, and symbolic resonance. Many of the designs evolved during the residency at Casa Spazio in Palermo.

generously supported by the Jan Warburton Charitable Trust.