Dorset sculptor Jane Shaw has been selected not once but twice for the 2026 Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition – a rare distinction that places her firmly among the top names in contemporary British sculpture.
Chosen from almost 4,000 anonymous submissions, Jane is one of very few artists to have two separate works accepted in the same year. Her bronze sculptures Community Spirit (Group of Starlings) and Kissing Mice will both be exhibited at London’s prestigious Mall Galleries this February. Each year, only around 280 works by non-RBA members make the final selection, with most chosen on a one-per-artist basis. To receive a double acceptance, through blind judging, is highly unusual and widely regarded as a mark of exceptional artistic merit.
Jane, who lives and works just outside Blandford Forum, says: ‘My work is always about the moment just before something happens – the balance between stillness and movement. To have two such different pieces recognised in this way is deeply affirming.’
Community Spirit captures the compressed energy of a murmuration of starlings, cast in bronze and set on slate. It’s not a literal depiction of flight, but a sculptural interpretation of shared movement and collective instinct.
By contrast, Kissing Mice is a more intimate study in vulnerability and balance. Perched delicately on stacked pebbles, the two mice lean towards one another in a quiet moment of affection. One is older, more watchful; the other curious, reaching. Cast in white bronze, it’s a piece that invites viewers to pause and reflect.
Both works will be on display at Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1, from 26th February to 7th March 2026, alongside some of the UK’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Admission: £7 (free for under 25s) – mallgalleries.org.uk
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