WYRD transforms Jupiter’s Ballroom Gallery into a zoo of hybrid animals formed from textile and clay. Based on species that have been identified as having same-sex sexual behaviour, penguin, giraffe, crab and elephant mutate into fantastical hybrids of folkloric and mythological creatures. This new commission traces a line from queer lives, loves and histories through the wyrd, fey and magical.

The exhibition takes the Old Norse word wyrd, not just to mean strange or different (the modern usage of ‘weird’), but as an exceptional otherness that is tied to destiny, fate and transformation. The features of these beautifully monstrous beings – hands, feet, faces, ears – are cast from Baldock and his life partner, Rafał Zajko. Baldock’s work finds symbolism and solace in shape-shifting creatures, tracing a line from queer lives, loves and histories through the wyrd, fey and magical. At its core, the exhibition explores our relationship to animals, nature, and our intrinsic interconnectedness to the planet with hope, humour and vulnerability.