'We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities' – Jonathan Baldock challenges the patriarchal roots of a former Roman temple in London

Jonathan Baldock crafts wild magic in his immersive exhibitions. Working primarily with clay and natural textiles, the British artist weaves together pagan traditions, expressive natural forms, and the deep connection he shares with the women in his family. For ‘0.1%’ at London Mithraum Bloomberg Space, he challenges the patriarchal roots of this former Roman Temple, which was built to worship the macho god of justice and war. A four-metre-tall mother-goddess figure towers over the exhibition.

'The divine feminine predates the temple of Mythras,' Baldock tells me, when we meet in his east London studio ahead of the opening. 'But the older, divine feminine goddess figures were knocked to the side by warrior societies.' His idol is powerfully built, cloaked in a long coat covered in swirling vines and flowers. Her outfit is made from heavy hessian, like the fabric bags used for hop picking, a long tradition within his family. Its thick, loose weave fits her looming proportions. 'It looks like a giant could have made it,' he considers. 'It has an otherworldliness.'

The head is based on a sculpture the artist made of his mother when he was a child; he has scaled it up in bronze, with lapis lazuli embellishments. 'I remember making this figure from earth dug out of the back garden. Kent soil is claylike; it’s raw and sticky. Like a lot of parents, she told me it was incredible! I remember feeling very proud.' The new head is both endearing and intimidating; Baldock was keen to embrace this duality, presenting a potent, complex maternal figure. 'I was a queer kid in a single parent family until she married my stepfather, and she took on multiple roles. It would be very easy to make it all cheesy and cosy, but I wanted to show the hard-working person who held down multiple jobs and could be terrifying as well.'

The mother-goddess sits at the centre of a grid of poles which create a maze-like viewing experience and capture Baldock’s childhood memories of hop gardens. 'There’s a feeling you get in these spaces which is a bit like a forest. I like the idea that it’s not an easy path through.' The use of coppice, which involves cutting lengths of wood but never killing the plant, reflects the artist’s interest in traditional farming techniques which have a symbiotic relationship with nature.

Amongst the poles is a selection of ceramics and textiles covered in luscious images of bees, foliage, and sacred geometry, as well as his mother’s favourite flowers: bluebells and snowdrops. Teeth, umbilical cords, and hair are also pictured, mirroring parental keepsakes and DNA which runs through generations. Baldock’s mother created a heart sculpture and rendering of the artist’s head from Kent soil, which sit out of sight within the goddess. There is also an ambient soundscape created with Baldock’s frequent collaborator Luke Barton, which includes whispers, bird song, and the sound of hop pickers.

The title comes from the minute genetic difference that exists amongst all humans: 0.1%. 'At the centre of the work is my belief that most humans are good,' he tells me. 'When societies were smaller, often working with the land, everyone knew each other. They knew their place in the community. Now, we’re so overwhelmed. We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities. We are all brothers and sisters, the amount of DNA we share is so huge in comparison to what separates us.'

These ideas feed into Baldock’s upcoming solo exhibition at Edinburgh’s Jupiter Artland. For ‘Wyrd’ (opening 10 May), Baldock is creating textile and ceramic animal sculptures inspired by vintage soft toy manuals and based on creatures that have been observed to have same-sex relationships. Animals such as penguins will be shown in hybrid with mythological creatures, inspired by Sacha Coward’s ‘Queer as Folklore’, which positions the old Norse word ‘wyrd’ as a special otherness that is connected with ancient goddesses. “Certainty when I was growing up, ideas around what was ‘normal’ were impressed through the natural world,” says Baldock. “This recent scientific focus on same sex relationships between animals hit a chord. It’s a middle finger up to the idea of not being ‘as you’re supposed to be’. I hope it will be very inclusive, disarmingly funny, and beautiful.”

Jonathan Baldock's ‘0.1%’ at London Mithraum Bloomberg Space runs until 5 July 2025

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