Irish artist Richard Malone has created a major sculpture installation for the Council of the European Union's Justus Lipsius and Europa buildings in Brussels, marking Ireland's assumption of the EU presidency this month. Titled Cuimhne agus Séadchomhartha (Memory and Monument), the work features his colourful fabric sculptures — with dramatic drapes and folds resembling mythical creatures — and aims to "rewrite the story of what it means to be Irish" by foregrounding crafts historically dismissed as women's or queer labour.

Malone, from a working-class Wexford family, learned practical skills from his decorator father and sewing from his grandmother, and his work seeks to elevate overlooked textile crafts to fine art while dismantling gender binaries. He argues that much Irish and museum art reflects the choices of privileged men, leaving stitch samplers, quilts and female and queer makers erased or uncollected. Alongside the sculptures he is furnishing the presidency suites with work by contemporary Irish makers. The article also traces his path from fashion — including collaborations with Björk and disillusionment with the industry's unethical, unsustainable practices — into the art world, and pays tribute to his father, James, who died earlier this year after helping on many of his exhibitions.