These Creepy Baby Sculptures Will Give You Nightmares

Wendy Mayer: Curious Room, Charlie Smith London ★★★★☆

Tabish Khan
By Tabish Khan Last edited 92 months ago

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These Creepy Baby Sculptures Will Give You Nightmares Wendy Mayer: Curious Room, Charlie Smith London 4
He looks at peace ... even though he has no body or legs.

We've been impressed by individual sculptures by Wendy Mayer in the past, so we've been looking forward to this solo show in Shoreditch.

This baby in a seashell is strangely adorable.

Her work involves creating scarily lifelike sculptures of babies, mostly sleeping, complete with realistic looking hair, and even a bit of drool on their lips.

They are made from vinyl and wax, but it's easy to see them as flesh and bone.

Easily the creepiest sculpture in the exhibition

If that's not unsettling enough, they are stuffed into shells, given wings, or transformed into hangers featuring just the head and arms.

It's not just babies. A monkey and a duckling get in on it too.

These sculptures are deeply personal works, and Mayer references issues including religion and domestic abuse. The religious aspects are plain to see in the coat hanger pieces which resemble the pose of a crucifixion.

Sculptors like Ron Mueck have done these sorts of realistic works before, but Mayer manages to give them her own touch, and they do stand out as original works.

The exhibition has a wall full of hangers like this.

We love these pieces but appreciate some people may not feel comfortable around them. However, art should be unsettling at times, as it makes it all the more engaging. That's something this exhibition certainly succeeds at.

Wendy Mayer: Curious Room is on at Charlie Smith London, 336 Old Street, EC1V 9DR until 30 July. Entrance is free and the gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday. Entrance is through The Reliance pub.

Last Updated 11 July 2016