At Nottingham University's lakeside arts gallery was an amazing and breathtaking exhibition by sculptor and artist Sophie Ryder. Ryder creates work based on animals and mythical creatures, making sculptures out of wire, toys, machine parts and wire.
Walking into the exhibition, I was face to face with a large and beautiful sculpture with more lining either side of me, as if 3D continuous line drawings were in front of me. Each piece was more expressive than the last.
By far my favourite of all these pieces however was the highlight of the whole exhibit and that would be 'Temple to the 200 rabbits' (seen above).
I walked into a dark, foreboding room, dimly lit with sinisterly beautiful music playing and over a field of swirled sand lay hundreds of rabbit sculptures, fighting, lying down, having sex and merely staring up into the light as if longing for freedom. It felt like I was stepping into the world of Watership Down, dark yet charming.
When reading the context to this piece I found it to be rather tragic, with Ryder telling a story of how she was given a tour of a rabbit farm where hundreds of rabbits were kept and bred to be eaten. Looking at the exhibition you can feel that same pain and longing that perhaps the rabbits felt but when compared to the temple that pairs the piece it feels almost ethereal and god like.
This exhibition was insightful and inspiring, I loved it very much and would recommend it to anyone
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