A year of works — spanning across boxes, drawings, and paintings. The exhibition examines everyday encounters and how they form relations that weave into a larger web of events
Pigeon Squirrel Spider Sparrow assembles paintings and boxes made in the past year, featuring scenes from the artist's everyday--pigeons, conkers, onions … and other humble things. The works invite a heightened sensitivity towards the surrounding world.
The boxes are made out of intricate, painted compartments and found objects. Each holds forgotten objects. A bottle cap, dried twigs, a small piece of burnt candle wick live together in them. The paintings, similarly, are houses, bringing together two chairs from Keats' House as they rest back to back, or two friends walking ahead on a steep trail. Together the works trace an urge to be surrounded by friendly presences.
Making use of the chapel at St Margaret's House, the installation draws upon existing textures and architectural details of the chapel. The shadowy space offers the possibility of relation and communion between the works. These invite viewers to project their own lived feelings onto them, making the world what it already is, ordinary and magical.
About Gabby:
Gabby works with paint, ceramics, film, and makes boxes and books. She studied painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating in 2021, before completing a Master's in Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2025. She grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in East London.
Contact: If you have any questions regarding this exhibition, please email programming@stmargaretshouse.org.uk
Venue: The Chapel at St Margaret’s House, 21 Old Ford Road — E2 9PL
Access: We are working to make our Grade II listed building more accessible, but it will take some time. Please note that entry to the Chapel is not step-free. If you require access support (including our portable ramps) and/or access to an accessible toilet, please contact us on 020 8980 2092 or email programming@stmargaretshouse.org.uk so we can arrange this for you.
Opening Event: Friday 25th September, 6.30-8.30pm
Exhibition: Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th September, 10am-4pm
Tickets for the Opening Event are free, but registration is essential