Gillian Jason Gallery is delighted to share that artist Alice Irwin installed a new body of work, the Peeps sculptures, within the subtropical gardens at Tremenheere. Standing brightly against the planting, these painted steel figures mark the latest addition to the gardens' collection, extending a practice long concerned with how childhood games and memory shape adult imagination and interaction.
Working across printmaking and sculpture, Irwin's process moves between two and three dimensions, translating bold outlines and simplified human-like silhouettes into physical form. This movement between print and object allows her to create figures that are at once familiar and abstract, rendered in vivid pink, orange and blue, and designed to invite viewers into a sense of encounter rather than simple observation. Within the gardens, this staged presence sits in dialogue with the granite boulders and palms around it, offering a contrast between the organic and the constructed, the ancient and the contemporary.
While developing the series, Irwin has continued to explore sculpture as a site of interaction, where viewers see themselves reflected in the figures' implied gestures and personalities. At Tremenheere, this dynamic takes on a new dimension: perched among granite and subtropical planting, the Peeps invite visitors to pause and encounter the landscape through a more playful register, echoing the sense of curiosity and connection that has defined the series since its earliest showings.
The installation follows a period of sustained visibility for Irwin's practice. Since completing an MA in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art in 2018, she has exhibited widely, including at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery. To mark the arrival of the Peeps in the Sculpture Gardens, Tremenheere Gallery is presenting a complementary exhibition of Irwin's prints from 2022 to 2024 in the lower gallery studio room, presented in collaboration with Gillian Jason Gallery, tracing the shared visual language that runs between her printed and sculptural work.
The exhibition ran from 30 June to 25 July 2026, with all works available to purchase.
