Wen Dixon-Whiley creates her mildly unsettling yet somehow still endearing creatures from a combination of ‘late night imaginings’ as well as myth, speculative biology, evolution, cosmic horror and folklore. These figures could be from our own planet earth or somewhere else, in the past or in the future, creatures as yet undiscovered or long extinct. Are they regarding the viewer with curiosity, indifference, hunger, fear, mocking… or something else?

2025 proved to be a year of massive creative output and come to influence the research directions I have taken. As a result, it has marked several new evolutionary branches in my creative practice - this is one of them. Just some of the ‘creatures of the night’ that formed from many, many hours spent drawing in to the early hours of the morning have been chosen to come to life in 3D alongside my regular drawing practice in this exhibition as part of the 2026 SALA Festival.

This project explores sculpture as a means of pushing the limits of my imagination and creative skills. In describing the figures and their origins I begun to note some of the words I have captured in my sketchbooks, describing them as I worked on them:

“I draw from imagination but also partly from myth, fable, speculative biology/evolution, poetry, and folklore. These figures could be real, from our own earth or somewhere else: creatures as yet undiscovered or long extinct. Are they regarding the viewer with curiosity, indifference, hunger… mocking? Each has its own story and mood”

‍ ‍February 2025/Sketchbook 2 of 9 in the 2025 series.