"Monumental uncanny animalistic sculptures" in Chichester exhibition

Spokeswoman Holly Fox-Lee said: “Taking over the gallery space in its entirety, the exhibition brings together monumental uncanny animalistic sculptures with paintings and drawings to create an immersive and psychologically charged environment that probes the hidden legacies of care, neglect and inherited relational trauma.

“The exhibition title draws on psychoanalyst Selma Fraiberg’s seminal concept of the ‘ghosts in the nursery’: the unspoken, often unremembered emotional histories that parents carry with them and unconsciously pass on to their children. These buried presences, at once protective and malevolent, haunt early relationships, shaping bonds of attachment and vulnerability. Norris’s installation gives sculptural and symbolic form to these ghosts, making visible the tensions between nurture and cruelty, curiosity and fear.

“At the heart of the exhibition are giant animal forms, rendered strange through irregular scale, hybrid anatomies and biomorphic distortion. Both tender and unsettling, these creatures appear abandoned yet charged with latent life force, oscillating between familiarity and threat. Surrounding works extend this atmosphere, offering fragmentary glimpses into embryonic states, mythic narratives and bodily memory.

“Norris’s practice is rooted in an exploration of connectedness, physical, emotional and psychological between humans and other living beings. Drawing on medieval metaphysics as well as contemporary thought, she investigates a pre-linguistic, transsubjective language that emerges through shared embodiment, particularly during gestation. Reality and myth coexist throughout her work, as plant, animal and human forms continuously metamorphose, evoking what the artist describes as a resurfacing of deep, possibly interspecies, trauma.

“Her materials and methods are deliberately non-hierarchical. Techniques such as stitching, binding and moulding reclaim processes historically dismissed as ‘women’s work’, repositioning them as acts of power and agency. The use of materials like tights foregrounds the female body as both a creative force and a social site of meaning, embedded directly within the sculptures themselves.”

Holly added: “Based in Newhaven and a former long-term resident of Lewes, Abigail Norris is a significant voice in contemporary sculpture. She was the winner of the Ingram Prize 2023 and was tipped as one to watch by Waldemar Januszczak in The Sunday Times, who described her work as ‘thunderously eye-catching… a powerful lament to the despoliation of nature.’”

The sculpture pictured is created using the following mixed media: faux fur, nylon tights, bio polymer, wool wadding, string, thread, conduit and Latex.

Julian Page Projects, 12 Northgate, Chichester, PO19 1BA. Opening times: Monday-Wednesday: by appointment; Thursday–Friday: 11am–4pm; Saturday: 11am–2pm; Sunday: closed.