Lunar New Year: Year of the Rabbit

2023 is the Year of the Rabbit - symbolising symbolising mercy, elegance, and beauty in Chinese mythology.

YSP is home to a number or rabbits - both real and sculptural. Look out for our resident rabbit sculptures in the Formal Garden and Lower Park on your next visit.

Leiko Ikemura: Usagi Kannon II

With a rabbit's ears and a human's crying face, Usagi Kannon II is a symbol of mourning for our planet. Leiko Ikemura combines inspirations from Europe and Japan. 'Usagi' is rabbit in Japanese, while Kannon is the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The creature's skirt nods to Christian images of people taking shelter under the Virgin Mary’s cloak.

A sculpture with a woman's body and a rabbit head

Sophie Ryder: Sitting

Mixing fairy tales, dreams and mythology, Sophie Ryder creates mysterious half-human, half-animal hybrids. Ryder calls this character the Lady Hare and imagines her as a companion for the Minotaur. She has a female body and the head of a hare, a mystical creature in folklore.

A sculpture of a giant Bugs Bunny shaped soft toy, with eroded crystal sections.

Daniel Arsham: Bronze Eroded Bunny

Daniel Arsham takes pop culture icons and transforms them into 'future relics', blurring the boundaries between ancient and contemporary artefacts. Towering over the Formal Garden and standing 5m tall, the familiar character of figure of Bugs Bunny is transformed to create⁠ a sense of distorted reality.⁠