Part of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2026, The delight of walking alone presents the work of Welsh and Ghanaian artist Anya Paintsil. Based in Glyn Ceiriog and London, Anya draws inspiration from her childhood in North Wales and her ancestral Fante tradition of figurative textiles. Anya combines craft practices she was taught as a young child, including rug making, appliqué, and hand embroidery, with afro hairstyling techniques to create large scale portraits. The exhibition will run from 5-21 June 2026, at Burns Street Studios, first floor, 15 Burns Street.
Inspired by North Welsh folklore, since her own return to a small village in North Wales, Anya’s new work imagines giantesses, who delight in their freedom in the landscape, swamps and hills. The name of Anya’s own village translated as ‘the meadow of the swamp’. The power and strength of these joyful Black giantess, subverts societal norms and archaic tropes of feminine ideals, questioning the absurdity of one body type that every woman must aspire to.
The women are made from materials with their own provenance, ranging from items left on her doorstep by Anya’s neighbours and fellow villagers, to re-purposed yarns, braids made from both synthetic and human hair, the leather from old handbags and re-cycled crochet made into flowers. Anya has dyed fabrics and also painted on other materials, to rework into these artworks. Whilst Anya’s work does not specifically portray landscape her work is very much made from place. The act of making returns Anya to her childhood imagination where she had the freedom to roam and be happy in solitude in nature, rather than at a removal from the natural world.
Anya’s figures explore the possibilities and politics of non-representative depictions of the Black figure, drawing from African art history, identity, personal narratives, and humour. Anya deliberately refuses to root her work in the European fine art canon; instead, her visual language is based in traditional West African craft and art—carvings, wood sculptures, masks. She exchanges the hard materials for soft in an interrogation of gendered labour, particularly the labour of working-class women.
Anya has recently exhibited at Ames Yavuz, London and Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham. Her work is in collections including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The National Museum of Wales, The Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, and The Women’s Art Collection at Cambridge University.
Jenny Brownrigg, GSA Exhibitions Director at The Glasgow School of Art said:
“Building on GSA’s longstanding relationship with Glasgow International, we are delighted to present a solo exhibition of new work by Anya Paintsil for Gi’s 2026 festival. A fusion of heritage and craft, her large-scale textile portraits intertwine North Welsh rug-making with Fante traditions and Afro-hairstyling to redefine the Black figure.”
This exhibition is supported by The Glasgow School of Art, with additional support by Glasgow International with funds from the Scottish Government’s Festival EXPO Fund.
The exhibition runs from the 5 June till 21 June, at Burns Street Studios as part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2026. The full programme can be viewed HERE.
Please contact press@gsa.ac.uk for any further information
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Gallery opening hours:
Burns Street Gallery is HERE
5-7 June : 10am-5pm
8-21 June : Mon – Fri 12pm – 5pm / Sat – Sun 10am – 5pm
About The Glasgow School of Art (GSA)
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education.
Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, fine art, innovation and technology in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
About Glasgow International
Glasgow International is Scotland’s biennial of contemporary art. Presented at locations across the city every two years, the festival is a globally-renowned platform for experiencing the vital work of artists and arts organisers active today.
The festival had two annual editions in 2005 and 2006 before changing to its current biennial format in 2008. The previous Festival Directors of Glasgow International have been Francis McKee (2005-2008), Katrina Brown (2009-2012), Sarah McCrory (2013-2017), Richard Parry (2017-2021), Richard Birkett (2022-2025). The current Festival Director is Helen Nisbet. Glasgow International will return on the 5th-21st June 2026.
Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art is part of and managed by Glasgow Life, a registered charity that delivers culture and sport on behalf of Glasgow City Council.
