Artist Linder unveils new public artwork at London Zoo
- maxwell museums
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
Pioneering British artist Linder has unveiled her first permanent public artwork, and it’s at an unusual location: London Zoo.
The 16m-long mosaic has been commissioned to commemorate the 200th anniversary of ZSL (the Zoological Society of London) which runs London Zoo in Regent’s Park. Titled Sirona, the new work depicts an Ethiopian mountain adder, an endangered snake.
But Sirona actually honours the legacy of an unsung scientific hero.
Joan Beauchamp Procter was known as the 'Dragon Doctor', and she was ZSL's first female Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians. Procter was famed for her fearlessness and intimacy with reptiles — she often walked Komodo dragons through the Zoo — and she revolutionised how reptiles were kept and displayed. But she died in 1931 aged just 34, and has remained largely unknown outside specialist circles.
Linder’s new artwork hopes to change that. She said the new commission led to “uncovering Joan Beauchamp Procter as a true heroine of the natural world” and that it was “a fascinating journey of discovery.”
She said that “in Joan I found a kindred spirit: a fiercely independent curiosity that resonated with my own practice, and with ZSL's broader spirit of enquiry and determination to build connections between people and wildlife.”
The title of the artwork takes its name from the Celtic goddess of healing and restoration, also known as Serona Sivelia — "She who makes us better."
But the name carries resonance in relation to Joan Procter too, whose pioneering achievements were realised despite a lifetime of significant health challenges. Linder was also drawn to the subtle, snake-like sibilance of the name, echoing the winding reptilian form at the heart of the installation.
ZSL's Head of Conservation Education Cat Hickey said "Joan Procter was a visionary scientist whose work at ZSL not only transformed global understanding of reptiles but also turned the public dial from fear to fascination.”
She added that “it is fitting to honour her legacy of curiosity and care with a major new artwork that reflects our scientific heritage and uncovers a story that has long deserved a bigger spotlight.”
Sirona's one million tiles
The mosaic’s been made from around one million tiles of reclaimed marble and is framed by Black Galaxy granite from southern India.
Written into the piece are the words "Think of this sometimes." It’s a phrase taken from a personal letter from Joan to her sister, and it’s recreated in the mosaic in Joan's own handwriting, inviting visitors to pause and reflect on the natural world around them.
The inclusion of an adder honours Procter's innovative contributions to reptile care.
Linder’s first ever mosaic
Linder planned the work for over two years, immersing herself in ZSL’s archives and those at Girton College, Cambridge, where Procter’s sister’s personal papers are held.
Linder also met the Zoo’s scientists, zookeepers and educators, and visited the animals in their care and learned about the conservation work taking place across ZSL today.
Born in Liverpool, Linder is a pioneering feminist artist who is known for her radical and humorous photomontages. She rose from the 1970s punk and post-punk scenes in Manchester, and she’s forged a radical visual language that’s often in dialogue with contemporary culture. In 2025 the Hayward Gallery on London’s Southbank hosted a major retrospective of her work.
Sirona is Linder’s first ever mosaic. While a new medium for the artist, there are similarities with her photomontage work. Both involve carefully selecting, cutting and placing thousands of individual fragments to create a single, unified image.
Sirona is now on permanent display at the Zoo. It’s been created from a partnership between ZSL, Contemporary Art Society *Consultancy and Linder, supported by the Pears Foundation.
