Cynthia Valianti Corbett unveils Cristina Schek’s large-scale public artwork Fern Girl at the W4th Plinth in Chiswick, curated by Abundance London on 19 September 2026, 2pm.
Saturday 19 September 2026, 2–3pm
W4th Plinth, Turnham Green Terrace “Piazza”, Chiswick, London W4
Free and open to everyone
On Saturday 19 September 2026, Cynthia Valianti Corbett, art historian and Founder and Director of Cynthia Corbett Gallery, will unveil Cristina Schek’s monumental public artwork, Fern Girl, at the W4th Plinth on Turnham Green Terrace “Piazza” in Chiswick.
Measuring an impressive 4 × 4 metres, Fern Girl marks an important public moment for Schek, whose distinctive surrealist practice moves between photography, constructed image and imagined worlds. Built from layers of the artist’s own photographs, including ferns photographed in London, the work brings the human figure into close conversation with the natural world, dissolving the boundaries between body, vegetation and landscape.
The presentation continues a long-standing dialogue between Cristina Schek and Cynthia Corbett Gallery. Cynthia Valianti Corbett has championed and presented the artist’s work internationally, and Fern Girl has travelled through the gallery’s wider programme before now taking on an entirely new life in the public realm.
Curated by Abundance London, the W4th Plinth presents changing large-scale artworks on the Transport for London-owned railway embankment as part of the organisation’s wider commitment to urban greening, biodiversity and imaginative public space. The installation also marks Schek’s return to the W4th Plinth following The Ceiling in the Sky, her 2023 public artwork unveiled by Dame Siân Phillips. Fern Girl was selected first by a jury of art experts and then by public vote.
Cynthia Valianti Corbett will be joined at the unveiling by Dr Karen Liebreich MBE, Founder and Director of Abundance London and Aura Woodward, Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, whose distinguished cultural career includes work with His Majesty King Charles III’s international charities. The unveiling takes place with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.
Just five days later, Schek’s work will also be presented at British Art Fair at Saatchi Gallery, with Cynthia Corbett Gallery at Stand 18 and Digitalism at Stand D11, creating a striking link between public art in Chiswick and the gallery’s wider London presentation. Cynthia Corbett Gallery will also present a gallery-scale edition of Fern Girl at Stand 18, available to collectors during the Fair. View and acquire 'Fern Girl' here.
