‘Come As You Are’ presents an all-new body of work created in the artist’s signature hand-tufted tapestry approach, centred around the themes of 90s’ pop culture, childhood nostalgia and personal iconography. Nirvana, Beavis and Butthead, The Simpsons, Furbies, and Lamborghini cars feature in this particular series. Transcending traditional views of textiles, Harry’s punchy, bright rugs feature a host of imagery extracted from their youth; characterised by cartoons, colours and characters vividly implanted into the collective consciousness of those who came of age during the era. “The images used in the rugs are often found through loads of viewing and remembering - art, music, culture, people, cartoons....I often take images based on certain trends and crop them or revise them adding my own sense of style or drawing ability to make them my own. A lot of people expect rugs to only be on the floor, but I aim to turn that on its head, and really do something different with that by framing each piece."-Harry McMorrow Harry’s journey to rug making came via the pandemic. They found the slow time consuming nature of the medium therapeutic, and found the process also lent itself well to creating art in a domestic setting during a time in which we were confined to our homes. Harry has continued to work from home, preferring the comfortable, personal and familiar surroundings to that of a conventional studio. “My favourite part about rug making is seeing the finished product: knowing that I started with a pile of yarn but with time and effort, made something that someone will live with and around. The idea of rug making reminds me of queer community as each strand comes together to build something strong. I see working with yarn in itself as a protest; using a medium that was previously regarded throughout history as associated with women's work (weaving, knitting etc.) I use it to make my own challenge to the patriarchy - creating pieces that go into a white space, white cube, gallery. The idea of hanging a historically craft-based piece on the walls of an institution is part of the process.” – Harry McMorrow Big Yin Gallery: Big Yin is an art gallery whose ethos is supporting and championing the work created by minoritised and underrepresented artists. It is a proudly black-owned gallery, artist-led gallery from artist/owner Euan Roberts and partner Ruth Spencer. Big Yin Gallery is both thrilled and honoured to be working with Harry McMorrow on their debut solo exhibition. “Harry is an incredible artist and person, who’s work we feel is urgently required in the times in which we live. Simultaneously their work is nostalgic, reminding us of iconic pop culture from the 90s’ and at the same time incredibly progressive and forward thinking. Harry is a non-binary artist using what is traditionally and historical seen as a feminine media and radically re-contexulising it to challenge the gender binary and associated ‘norms’ that need deconstructing. Their work is also fun as HELL.” -Euan Roberts