15 contemporary artists respond to the theme ‘Anima Mundi’ in Venetia Higgins’ third curated group show. The result has turned Green & Stone into a biodiversity hotspot - celebrating our sense of kinship with the natural world.
Dates: Monday 10th – Saturday 22nd November 2025
Location: The Framing Gallery at Green & Stone, 122 Fulham Road, South Kensington, London SW3 6HU
Opening Hours: 10.00 – 18.00 (Monday - Sunday)
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From the earliest cave paintings, to the altarpieces of the Renaissance and into our contemporary world, the animal has been one of humanity’s most enduring symbols in art. Far from simple representations, animals have occupied a charged symbolic and spiritual domain – repositories of meaning through which humankind has sought to understand its own place in the cosmos. ANIMA MUNDI brings together approximately 150 works by fifteen contemporary artists – ceramicists, painters, woodcarvers, printmakers, metalworkers, miniaturists – whose practices are rooted in folk, medieval and vernacular traditions. Each artist renews the imaginative vitality of ancient visual cultures, and in doing so reawakens modes of representation in which animals operate as moral, spiritual and ecological agents.
The exhibition takes its title from the classical concept of the anima mundi – the “world soul”, an invisible and intelligent thread believed to bind all living things within a single energetic sphere. The anima mundi originated in Platonic philosophy and was developed by thinkers such as the ancient philosopher Plotinus, and later Marsilio Ficino during the Renaissance. The artists of ANIMA MUNDI seek to continue this sense of kinship with our natural world – one grounded in reverence, rather than dominion.
This sense of interconnection has long made animals crucial players in the story of art, serving as vessels for moral, cultural and philosophical meaning. In ancient Egypt, gods assumed hybrid forms – falcon-headed Horus, jackal-headed Anubis, the lioness Sekhmet: human intellect fused with animal power. Persian miniatures teem with symbolic fauna: the nightingale and the rose as lovers, the lion as courage, the gazelle as spiritual beauty. Among Indigenous cultures of the Americas, animals serve as kin, ancestors and guides. In China, they are central to cosmological and ethical systems.
Medieval Europe (from where many of the artists in ANIMA MUNDI draw inspiration) was influenced heavily by the Greco-Roman culture where animals symbolised moral attributes of their mythological gods and heroes. In turn, while heraldic beasts would guard the Gothic cathedral, the Medieval Christian bestiary relied on a symbolic language which saw the lamb represent sacrifice, the serpent as sin, the dog as fidelity. As these ideas merged into folklore, local myths and traditions retained the concept of the anima mundi. The deer symbolised purity, the stag guidance, the wolf appeared both as a feared outcast and a protective companion. Boars symbolised fierce courage and owls represented wisdom or warning, and so it goes on.
In our age of ecological anxiety, curator Venetia Higgins and the artists of this powerful exhibition, invoke both metaphysical heritage and contemporary urgency: we are reminded of the critical role animals play within our world – that our creative and moral survival depends not on our separation from the natural world, but on our participation within it.
VENETIA HIGGINS (curator)
Venetia Higgins studied History of Art at Edinburgh before project managing art exhibitions in the non-profit sector for 5 years. She undertook a post-graduate level year at the Royal Drawing School (2022), and has since combined her project management expertise with her art practice to become a full-time artist and curator. Venetia’s art practice explores flora and fauna through a medieval lens. Her work frequently incorporates fragments of historical materials – working with a book restorer for manuscript pieces and a framer who specialises in ancient timber. The resulting pieces form a contemporary response to medieval depictions of the natural world, blending traditional craftsmanship with a modern sensibility.
ANIMA MUNDI is Venetia’s third group show following on from the successes of CURIOS and MEDIEVAL RELICS.
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AMATA BENEDICT
Amata Benedict is an artistic partnership creating art and interiors inspired by the Renaissance bottega workshop, where craft and fine art merge. Working with reclaimed materials, metal, and clay, they transform fragments into sculptural objects that blur boundaries between function and art. Their backgrounds span sculpture, design, and fabrication.
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BEATRICE FORSHALL
Beatrice Forshall, born in France and raised between there and Catalonia, studied illustration at Falmouth College of Art, specialising in dry-point engraving. Her nature-inspired work explores themes of conservation and biodiversity. A former artist-in-residence with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, she published The Book of Vanishing Species (Bloomsbury, 2022), supporting frontline conservation.
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CHARLOTTE SALT
Charlotte Salt is a British artist and ceramicist based in North Yorkshire. Rooted in a childhood spent in her parents’ pottery studio, she explores the subconscious through intuitive, playful clay work. Blending tradition with personal narrative, her sculptural pieces reinterpret history, myth, and memory through touch and texture.
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EDITH MORRIS
Edith Morris is a Welsh artist and experimental filmmaker inspired by folklore, storytelling and traditional craft. Based in Bristol, she works with ceramic, wood, fabric, metal and 16mm film. Collaborations include the V&A, National Gallery and Sea Shepherd UK, with screenings at ICA, BFI Southbank and international festivals.
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FLORENCE SWERYDA
Florence Sweryda is an artist and maker from East Sussex whose work draws on everyday life, antique curiosities, folk art, and childhood storybooks. Exploring painting, ceramics, and miniature construction, she creates finely detailed works where the natural world and decorative craftsmanship intertwine across mediums and scales.
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HOLLY FREAN
Award-winning British artist Holly Frean works across painting, print, and ceramics. Her playful, technically accomplished style has led to commissions from Burberry, Anthropologie, and the Duchess of Northumberland. A Royal Academy Summer Exhibition regular, her collectors include Larry David, Ricky Gervais, and Russell Tovey.
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JAMES HESLIP
James Heslip studied Fine Art at Kingston School of Art and co-founded Sailors Jail Gallery and Cygnets Art School with his wife, artist Tabby Booth. His work focuses on animals, capturing their vitality through quick sketches and the slow, tactile craft of woodblock printing in bold black and white.
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JULIA ALBERT-RECHT
Julia Albert-Recht, a self-taught ceramicist and former aid worker, hand-builds earthenware vessels decorated with folk-inspired sgraffito and whimsical painting. Influenced by Czech and English slipware traditions, her spontaneous style celebrates myths, beasts, and decorative storytelling in clay.
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LILLY HEDLEY
Lilly is an illustrator and printmaker from the verdant valleys of North Wales. Drawing on British rural heritage, folklore, and artisan food, her playful work spans printmaking, ink, and collage. She has been featured in The New Yorker and exhibited with Elliott’s Edinburgh, FOMAJE, Groundswell Festival, and Norton & Yarrow Cheese.
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LUCY MCCALL
Lucy McCall is a Yorkshire-based painter and ceramic artist with a BA in Fine Art from Manchester School of Art. Using slab and hand-building techniques, she creates limited-edition ceramics painted with dreamlike heroines inspired by mythology, folklore, and nostalgia, including mermaids, cowgirls, and romantic historical figures.
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RENE GONZALEZ
Rene Gonzalez is a London-based Canadian artist who began in Costa Rica’s graffiti scene before studying Painting at City & Guilds Art School. Since graduating in 2015, he has exhibited internationally, collaborated with brands like Clarks, Vans, and the NBA, and won the 2015 Clyde & Co Blank Canvas Art Prize.
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SAMANTHA BUCKLEY
Samantha Buckley is an artist specialising in Indian miniature painting. A graduate of the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, she trained further in India and now exhibits internationally. Her commissions include work for His Majesty The King and projects in Saudi Arabia, where she also teaches and promotes traditional techniques.
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STEVE CAMPS
Born in Cornwall in 1957, Steve Camps was a builder before turning to painting after retiring in 2023. Inspired by antiques and storytelling, he creates whale-themed works framed from his vintage collection. His charming craftsmanship has gained international acclaim, media features, and a devoted following, earning him the nickname “The Prince of Whales.”
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TABBY BOOTH
Tabby Booth’s work bridges illustration and folk art, exploring beasts, folklore, and the sea through her distinctive silhouette style. A Central Saint Martins graduate, she co-founded Cygnets Art School and Sailors Jail Gallery with her husband, artist James Heslip. They live in Cornwall with their children and rescue pigeon, Raisin.
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