ABOUt abigail

Abigail is a multidisciplinary British artist, born in Yorkshire, now living and working in Walthamstow, east London. She is constantly evolving her work through medium and scale, fascinated by the exploration of combined materials and processes, but always with a focus on the Animal Kingdom.

Her animals often take the form of gods and goddesses, spiritual beings, processional figures in acts of ceremony, keepers of sacred items, story-tellers and protectors. They are informed by a childhood spent roaming free in nature, by the animal characters of her childhood storybooks and toys, an early interest in human/animal connection, by her love of the hand-made, her travels and interest in different cultures; their customs and beliefs, and by the folk art she collects. She seeks and treasures objects that bear the mark of their maker, items that carry stories, surfaces worn down by touch, pieces that have personality, depth and soul, that decorate the colourful walls and surfaces of her home and provide a constant source of inspiration and joy.

The early years of her life, spent often in the care of her maternal Grandma, introduced Abigail to the world of making things from fabric and thread. These materials, often in the form of remnant scraps, offered a lasting connection to her after she died and so naturally became the medium through which Abigail explored her creativity throughout her education and early career as a textile artist.

Following a degree in Surface Decoration and Printed Textiles (2000-2003), she moved away from surface design and illustration, teaching herself to make the 3-dimensional things that filled her imagination.

Recycling plays an important role in her work, working where she can to repurpose materials whether fallen branches, washed up driftwood, old clothing, used cardboard and plastics, or long-forgotten buried ‘treasures’ found with the aid of a metal detector. She enjoys the ‘stories’ these things carry from their former lives, and through the process of crafting them into reimagined forms - new life is born.

Abigail’s ‘Wood Spirits’ are a particular example of this. Built solely from found materials, they invoke the spirits of the trees they once were, becoming talismans that remind us of our deep-rooted vital connection with the natural world around us. The solace she first felt as a child in the natural environment is something she is aways seeking in her life outside the studio, and exploring in her work.

In recent years her work has explored her own experiences of anxiety, depression and grief; namely her ‘Unnatural History Series’ - paintings of examples of taxidermy gone wrong, that depicted recognisably human emotions in the animal subjects, and her most recent ‘Living Sculpture’ project exploring the importance of connection, community and openness for mental wellbeing.
Through the introduction of mushroom spores to her cardboard sculptures of animal heads, Abigail references the use of medicinal properties of certain mushrooms for the treatment of anxiety, depression and PTSD. Over time the heads become blanketed in mycelium and eventually fruit mushrooms. These collaborations with fungi represent a release of long-stored childhood emotions and trauma and are a message of hope.

Naturally, with animals the focus of her art, the threat of extinction: of habitat loss, poaching and exploitation become an ever more important focus for her, raising awareness and funding for conservation projects across the globe. 

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Abigail’s work has been sold and exhibited around the world and featured in magazines such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle Decoration and Selvedge. Liberty London and Paul Smith have been stockists of her fabric and paper sculptures.

Commissions are always welcome, so please contact Abigail to discuss if this is something of interest.