British Art Fair 2025

Cathy de Monchaux 
1984 Unicorn  2025
Bronze; 25 x 38 cm

1984 Unicorn is a significant new work by British artist and sculptor Cathy de Monchaux. Originally created in 1984, shortly after leaving art school, the sculpture was constructed based on the size of a pony:  “I made him by hanging strings from the pipes on the ceiling and literally drew him in the air with simple materials, cane, cardboard and tissue paper, gradually building up the strength in his legs and body until I could release the strings holding him up.” Due to the technical restrictions of casting such a complex shape, inside and out, at that time (and therefore the inevitable destruction of the original) the work was preserved in its original form and kept in the artist’s London studio for decades, almost as a personal talisman.

Ever present, albeit peripherally, in her working life since then (“….a large and strange creature that I really have yet to fathom myself”), by 2024, technology had progressed so far as to enable her to return to it. Two days of non-stop digital scanning of every ”pore” allowed for a completely precise 3D-printed mould to be fashioned, enabling the piece to be cast finally in bronze using the traditional lost wax method.

This version represents the second life of the artwork - both a faithful rendering of the artist’s original vision and a magical revival forged from technological progress and contemporary alchemy. And what is more, aside from the domestically friendly edition, a full size iteration is now feasible; a bronze unicorn, lifesize (?) at some 14.2 hands, to grace and bewitch any environment.

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