This summer Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) welcomes artist Annie Montgomerie back for a new exhibition of intricate handmade sculptural figures, on display from 15 August.

Missies and Nippers follows the artist’s sell-out exhibition Hand Me Downs at YSP in 2022 and features a new collection of her much-loved, hand-crafted animal figures. These characterful creatures inhabit a tender emotional space between childhood and adulthood, representing familiar feelings of vulnerability and nostalgia. Their faces express complex emotions and the contradictions of childlike wonder and innocence alongside feelings of sadness, shyness and loneliness.

Each one of Montgomerie’s creations - cats, dogs, foxes, elephants and other exotic animals - is meticulously constructed by hand. Their bodies are made from vintage finds from the 1970s and 1980s, layered with retro patterned fabrics, jewellery, favourite toys and faux furs. Dressed in tiny frocks or trouser suits, they have a loved-to-death, thread-bare quality, while their postures and expressions quietly suggest stories of hope, fragility and belonging.

With works of such small scale, there is a sense of intimacy and secrecy to them with their postures and expressions telling stories of their fragile lives, of hopefulness and uncertainty, which can continue into our own adulthoods.

YSP’s Retail Programme and Product Development Manager Amanda Peach says:“Annie’s work has such a gentle way of speaking to people. In Missies and Nippers, she draws on memories of childhood, difference and belonging to create figures that feel full of character and quiet emotion. There’s something very touching about the way their small worlds combine to hold joy and vulnerability in equal measure. Making these pieces is a way for Annie to savour both and honour the small, insecure child she once was.”

Annie also reflects on returning to YSP for a second solo exhibition, saying:“I remember the first time I exhibited at YSP; the nervous excitement and the sense of stepping into something larger than myself. Coming back now feels different. There is still that same pulse of anticipation, but it is layered with deeper confidence and a more reflective kind of gratitude.

“It feels both grounding and quietly momentous. YSP is a place that carries a particular kind of creative generosity, one that allows work to breathe and find its own rhythm within the space.”

She added:“The gallery has a rare balance of intimacy and scale. It can hold quiet, delicate work without swallowing it up, and that quality means a great deal to me. My pieces often live in small worlds, and yet within the YSP gallery they seem to find a natural belonging. Returning for a second solo exhibition feels like a conversation continuing, rather than a beginning.”

All works – 25 in total – are available to purchase, ranging in price from £1,800-£4,000. YSP is a registered charity (number 1067908) Proceeds from all sales supports its work to bring world-class art to Yorkshire.

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Notes to Editors 
Press enquiries
YSP / +44 (0)1924 832 631 / comms@ysp.org.uk  
Download images at ysp.org.uk/press

Listings information
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, Wakefield WF4 4LG
Near Wakefield and Barnsley – M1 Junction 38
+44 (0)1924 832631 | ysp.org.uk | @YSPsculpture
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