“I’m obsessed with the way the figure can either grow from the ground or sit in stark contrast with it.” Sarah Ball

Sarah Ball, born in 1965 in South Yorkshire, has in recent years gained prominence within the Contemporary British Art scene. Based in near Penzance, Cornwall, Ball began her representation with Stephen Friedman Gallery in 2011. The present work titled ‘Hare Child’, was painted during this period of transition.

Ball’s works are often intimate portraits that carry a unique tension—while they may appear sterile and emotionally distant, they also evoke a deep sense of emotion. Many of her subjects, with their porcelain-like gazes, seem devoid of personal identity, inviting viewers to engage with the intricate details and complex perspectives of each portrait.

In this case Ball focuses specifically on elements of the surreal. Ball's work often explores themes of identity, transformation, and the relationship between humans and animals. Hare Child specifically seems to evoke a sense of myth or fantasy, drawing on the hare's symbolic associations with fertility, the lunar cycle, and the wild.