A parallel universe: Rachel Goodyear at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Exhibition: Rachel Goodyear, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, until January 3 2012

Between reason and unreason, between the macabre and the mundane, Rachel Goodyear's extraordinary drawings confound description but exert a powerful hold over the viewer.

This exhibition at YSP features commissioned works created for the Bothy Gallery, alongside other recent pieces. And for the first time Goodyear is exhibiting small-scale sculptures, inspired by walks the artist made around the surrounding landscapes.

Strange figures, neither human nor animal, appear in the gallery as animations or porcelain sculptures. Fragile and mysterious, the viewer struggles to recognise them, yet is intrigued by what could have happened to these creatures.

In 2009 Rachel Goodyear said of her work: "Each drawing is created in its own right, but all works share a common language delivering ambiguous tales of fears and desires through an imagined world between awake and dream."

This contradiction and dichotomy comes within works full of fear and desire, vulnerability and defiance. Goodyear’s pictures are like a Donnie Darko world – a parallel universe which is sometimes seductive, sometimes scary, and often darkly funny.

In the relatively short time since she graduated in Fine Art at Leeds Metropolitan University she has attracted award nominations, international collectors and critical acclaim.

Her current work is informed by a recent residency at the Banff Centre, which is set within the remote mountains of the Banff National Park in Canada. Goodyear’s fascination with the juxtaposition of people and animals continues with images of feral women covered in scratches and strange bears emerging from hibernation.

Nature is ever present at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and is a powerful force within Goodyear’s imaginary worlds. This exhibition is an opportunity to view the developing work of this fascinating artist within the stark beauty of the winter landscape of Yorkshire.

The accompanying YSP publication is the first to offer a survey of Goodyear's work to date, with archive images and a commissioned essay by Laurence Sillars, the Chief Curator at BALTIC.

• Open 10am-5pm (except December 24-25). Admission free.

More pictures from the show: