A Leap of Sympathy with Anna Perach
In A Leap of Sympathy, London-based Ukrainian artist Anna Perach transforms the East Gallery in Norwich into a haunting, tactile theatre of myth, memory and transformation. Rooted in folklore yet sharply contemporary, Perach’s sculptural works blur the boundaries between the human and the uncanny, the ornamental and the unsettling. Drawing inspiration from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Gothic tales and the philosophy of Henri Bergson, this exhibition invites viewers to explore the complex relationship between emotional experience, embodiment and empathy.
Olimpia, Anna Perach. Photo Credit: Denise Ilie
The exhibition title refers to Bergson’s notion that understanding another person’s interior world requires a leap of sympathy—a conscious suspension of rational judgement in favour of intuition and shared emotional truth. Perach explores this idea most strikingly through Olimpia, a pair of commanding feminine figures that form the centrepiece of the exhibition. One is animated by live performance, the other by a clockwork mechanism. Set side by side, they question the boundaries between animate and inanimate, agency and objectification, echoing Hoffmann’s original tale of an illusionary automaton mistaken for a living woman.
The clockwork mechanism inside Olimpia. Anna Perach. Photo credit: Denise Ilie
Perach’s chosen medium is as conceptually rich as it is visually striking. Using hand-tufted textiles, she constructs wearable sculptures that function simultaneously as garments used in performance and as static sculptural forms. The technique deliberately references domestic craft traditions, evoking rugs, upholstery and household interiors—labours historically associated with women. Yet Perach subverts any expectation of softness or submission. Her forms are powerful, fierce even; they carry the psychological weight of mythic archetypes and explore the ways patriarchal narratives have shaped and often confined the idea of femininity.
Uncanny Valley (Kokoshnik), 2025. Anna Perach. Photo credit: Denise Ilie
Textile craft becomes armour, exoskeleton, second skin. Through performance, Perach activates her sculptures, allowing them to move and breathe. This physical inhabiting of textile evokes layers of identity: outer protection, inner vulnerability, and the silent stories that live beneath the surface. Fragments of ancient folklore and personal memory are stitched together into hybrid beings that feel both ancestral and otherworldly.
Installation view from A Leap of Sympathy, Anna Perach. Photo credit: Denise Ilie
Born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine in 1985 and now based in London, Perach has rapidly emerged as a compelling voice in contemporary fibre art. A graduate of Goldsmiths (MFA, 2020), her solo exhibitions include Gasworks, London (2024) and Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel (2021). Her work has featured internationally in exhibitions such as Threads at Arnolfini, Bristol, and Antigone: Women in Fibre Art at Richard Saltoun Gallery, where A Leap of Sympathy was previously shown,
A profound meditation on empathy, embodiment and the emotional intelligence of craft, A Leap of Sympathy is a testament to how textile sculpture can speak with both poetic sensitivity and dramatic power.
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Further Information:
A Leap of Sympathy by Anna Perach is on now at East Gallery, Norwich, until 13 December 2025.
Exhibition Opening Times
Tuesday – Friday: 12–5pm
Saturday: 12–4pm
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Image Credits:
Lead: Olimpia (Detail), Anna Perach. Photo Credit: Denise Ilie
All further images as credited in photo captions.